The Perfect Recipe for Disaster
by Destux
Summary: What happens when you mix insane and insane together? A certain supreme leader finds out about three secret parties that were being held without his knowledge. And no one does NOT invite Kokichi to a party, especially if a whole class of sixteen people will be attending. It would be stupid to not invite him; after all, he's great at parties!
1. Planning

A/N: First multi-chapter fic and first time writing a non-protag in DR POV. I'll be switching POVs with Kokichi and Chiaki after this chapter so look forward to that I guess... I'll be making a lot of mistakes so please feel free to comment if my pacing seems wrong. Hint hint. I'm practicing writing both of them since I'll be working on something big in the future.

* * *

Nighttime came and everyone should be asleep by now. Well, except for a single person clad in a white suit, plotting some sort of nefarious plan akin to world domination or simply crashing some stranger's birthday party with literal guns blazing.

"Nishishi..."

The supreme leader howled his usual laugh to himself as he happily skipped across the halls of the dormitory in innocent glee. No one seems to have heard his evil laugh and he was thankful for it. Boy was he so happy that he came across such useful information that other people kept from him for a month. And nothing gets by Kokichi Oma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader. Not even hidden talents, dark secrets or conspiracy theories about the school hiding some sort of secret project. Sooner or later, he would find out before it could be hidden completely from him or before it was too late to act upon it.

He quickly went inside his own "evil lair" and made double sure to lock it since he knew that there were some nosy detectives lurking about. He didn't want them to find out his numerous schemes to unleash madness upon the unwitting fools. Even so, he really only considered one of the detectives a real threat, maybe the other in some circumstances but the former just didn't want to have some fun. Those two weren't boring to play with compared to the others but he wanted to play it safe for a while. "Safe" being a relative term.

Kokichi unraveled a whiteboard, hidden under a white cloak that matched the color of the wall to deceive the eyes of the people who didn't pay particular attention to detail, that was hanged on his wall. On second thought, he shouldn't have made his room look like a classroom of sorts, given the large size of the whiteboard, but he quickly denied that thought since it sounded like a good idea to him. Eh, he didn't mind. He liked to lie even to himself sometimes. Being unpredictable and erratic is a key tool for any evil supreme leader. Kokichi took a step back and examined the information he gathered about the residents of Hope's Peak's Main Course. He found out that he was missing one person, so he took out his marker and updated the information regarding the chart that he labeled as "Nanami-chan's Minions". The giggling boy added a Reserve Course student who goes by the name of Hajime Hinata next to Chiaki's. Letting out a huff of satisfaction as the three charts were now complete, Kokichi resumed to examining the whiteboard with his hands on hips, as if he was admiring his work.

A smirk stretched throughout his face as his mind drifted off to the information he came across regarding the three charts, thanks to his connections with Celes, Nagito and Kiibo, who personally yet reluctantly invited the hated supreme leader because of Kaede's forceful orders.

There were going to be three parties held this week.

The first was immediately dismissed since he didn't have time to scheme for that. That only left the other two. He could always settle for the one that would happen the latest but he wanted something different for a change and he wanted to challenge himself. He knew less about Chiaki's group than he did about his own group, which was surprising considering how active they were in group activities and attendance. In fact, they were so all over the place that the normally cunning supreme leader paid them no mind.

Another reason why he didn't settle to cause chaos for his group was because of Shuichi, one of the members of the detective duo that he considers as his arch nemesis. He was Kaede's right hand man and most loyal minion. It would be rational for Kokichi to expect their resident detective to stick his nose up the supreme leader's business if he was planning something evil for their party and if he did get spotted, Kaede would be quick to take action to restrain him, foiling his master plan. Of course, he knew how to bypass the lesser detective's watchful eye but where would be the fun in that if he already knew a foolproof method beforehand? Ultimately, he settled for crashing the second party and planned on getting more information about that. He would plan on his infiltration later.

Kokichi's smirk deepened, this time to a freakish grin. He can always go to Hajime if he wanted those details and then manipulate Gonta to forcefully drag him into an Insect Exhibit so that he could silence the unremarkable boy if he decided to blab to his friends about Kokichi's plans to find out information. He could imagine the horrified look on the poor boy's face, subjected to insect torture and nightmares. Wow, he really was evil, wasn't he?

The plan seemed perfect, but even he could admit that relying on Hajime would be a double-edged boomerang that would come back to bite him in the butt. He knew that Chiaki and Hajime were both close friends, just as close as he was to Shuichi, who was close to Kaede, much to the supreme leader's dismay. If he took Hajime out of the picture, Chiaki would worry about where he would be. Kokichi was confident in his ability to lie and manipulate others but she was... dangerous to deal with.

He heard from Nagito that the last time the lucky student looked down on Hajime, calling him talentless and trash, in front of Chiaki, she blew a gasket on him and the two got into an argument. It was very apparent that she was somewhat protective of her little boy toy. Because of this, Kokichi couldn't exactly trust Nagito to refrain from making some unneeded comment on Hajime's absence which would cause the gamer to act out of turn and put his plans into an uncontrollable state. As much as he loved seeing chaos and discord being sowed in a harmonious group, he needed some sense of control. He needed to be the one who would cause the mess and not by the whims of some random luck. Luck, huh? Hmmmm...

A metaphorical light bulb lit inside Kokichi's mind. That's right. There's Nagito as well. He knew that the guy held deep admiration for "the hope that the other Ultimates have" and he could use that to gain his cooperation. Nagito would do anything, **ANYTHING** , to make their hope shine even brighter and what better way to make that happen than to provide a "trial" for their hope? He was almost certain that the lucky student would assist him in causing chaos. This wouldn't be the first time Nagito caused wanton troubles for his group after all.

He remembered some idle gossip that spread quickly through the halls of the school like wildfire. The gossip was about how Nagito just so whipped out a gun that he had forgotten to load in the middle of his classes just to test how everybody responded in a terrorist situation. As he expected, he was quickly disarmed and restrained by the nearby athletes. The madman managed to escape without a bruise after Chiaki found out that the gun wasn't loaded by trying to shoot with it. The others were panicking and reprimanded her because of how nonchalantly she pointed the gun towards her face and pulled the trigger. She even questioned why it wasn't shooting in the first place.

Kokichi concluded that Nagito would be easy to manipulate with his lies. The only problem is, could he trust the pale, white-haired boy enough to keep his mouth shut? Nagito was a devious genius just like Kokichi, so he didn't worry about how the whimsical boy would add to his plans; that is, if his inferiority complex even allowed him to contribute. It was also very apparent that the boy annoyed the annoying supreme leader enough to give him a rare headache. Nagito was hard to control and hard to deal with, especially with his luck. Still, he was an important piece to have because of his obsession with his fellow Ultimates, meaning he had all the info Kokichi wanted. He just needed more assistance. More assurance. Besides, he was going to plan to betray Nagito later on. Just because he would agree to help doesn't guarantee his safety from Kokichi's plans. Nagito was still a part of "Nanami-chan's Minions" and no one under that chart would escape unscathed by Kokichi.

 _"Ughhhhh, why does this have to be so difficult?!"_ he thought aloud to himself as he scrunched up his face in frustration and jumped up and down on his bed, like a whiny child trying to make a hole on a trampoline for not getting the candy that he wanted. If he wanted, he could just do a bomb scare during the party but that was no fun for him at all! That was something someone like Nagito would do. Kokichi's plans were more devious and complex than just some simple bomb scare or stupid terrorist act! He was the Ultimate Supreme Leader for a gosh darn reason. His schemes were unique and unlike any other! He wouldn't stoop down to simple-minded and garbage-level crimes like killing, hostage taking or wanton violence. Those were too easy, too lacking in depth. If Kokichi was going to do just that, then he was sure as heck that he was gonna follow those plans up with something much, much better just to prove he wasn't desperate to be known as evil! He would spread terror and chaos in _**his**_ own way. And then, he would be remembered as the most evil supreme leader that mankind has ever bore witness to!

After Kokichi threw his temper tantrum for about an hour or so, a wave of exhaustion crashed down on the boy. Still panting heavily from jumping, he decided to lie down and rest for the night. As his eyes were being weighed down by exhaustion, he whispered his goodnight message to himself.

 _"Good night. Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite."_

 _"...Don't let the bed bugs bite."_

 _"...Don't... bed bugs..."_

 _"Gonta... bugs..."_

Kokichi's eyes suddenly shot back up and so did his lithe body. Of course! How could he forget the gullible and naïve Gonta?! He could procure some nitrous oxide and spray some during the party to knock everyone out, and then he could ask the muscular gentleman to carry the sixteen of them towards the enclosed space that he requested as a holding place for the Insect Exhibit for any interested students! In truth, no one in their sane mind would want to visit that exhibit but HE doesn't know that! Kokichi is dead certain that the gullible mass of muscle would be more than glad to cooperate if it meant that he would have some visitors. He could always lie to him if he is concerned about the sleeping victims. Everyone would be happy! Kokichi gets to see the horrified looks of not only one, but sixteen of them, and Gonta would get his first batch of "interested" visitors! A win-win situation.

"Nishishi..." he giggled.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" he laughed.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YES! THE PERFECT PLAN!" he shouted.

" **MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!** " he continued to laugh as the shadow his bangs casted on his face only grew and darkened, painting his normally childlike face with a mask that consisted of malice, deceit and evil violet colors. His laugh was loud enough to echo outside his room, filling the peaceful and quiet night outside with a dreadful and maniacal cackle that originated in Kokichi's room.

Unbeknownst to him, as soon as the demented supreme leader started laughing, someone was rapping fiercely on his door. Kokichi quickly covered his whiteboard and opened the door. He only saw the tired and annoyed face of Kaito, which contrasted Kokichi's lively and gleeful face, like nothing changed at all...

"Aww, Momota-chan~! Did you get a bad boo-boo? Want me to read you a bedtime story?" he lovingly asked with mock concern; arms arched and fingers interlocking on the back of his hair.

"Will you knock it off?! People are tryna' sleep here!" the annoyed astronaut groggily slurred at Kokichi, rubbing the back of his head with his left hand.

"I KNOW AND I DON'T CAAAAREEEE~!" he said in a manner to incite anger from the tired astronaut. Kokichi quickly closed the door on Kaito's fuming face and locked it instantly.

"Why you little-! GET BACK OUT HERE SO I CAN PUNCH THAT FACE OF YOURS INTO ORBIT!" the giggling supreme leader could still hear the shouting Kaito practically trying to punch the door open while twisting the doorknob that just wouldn't budge.

"NEVER!" Kokichi shouted back to the berserk Kaito, which only caused the rapping to intensify and quicken, making the door shake in its place. With one last forceful punch, the berserk astronaut relented and stomped his way back to his room. For a moment, Kokichi was genuinely scared that Kaito might break down his door and proceed to assault the defenseless supreme leader. He let out a relieved sigh, thankful to Atua or whatever that he was spared from a bruise or a black eye, and jumped back to bed. Kokichi let out one last "Nishishi..." before drifting off into a land of ponies and rainbows.

* * *

A/N: Prepare your asses, cause the next chapters are gonna be reaaaalllllyyyy long.


	2. Preparing pt 1

A/N: Dang, I didn't expect this to take up a lot of my time. I decided to split this large chapter into parts instead. Not to worry, hopefully the other parts won't be as long as this cesspool of nonsense. My Chiaki POV is... very different now that I look at it. From my understanding of UTDP Chiaki, she's a combination of her SDR2 and Despair Arc renditions so I figured that I fuse the two characters together instead. I might have botched up her character but that's up to you guys to figure that out.

* * *

" **RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...** "

An intense and banshee-like scream accompanied by furious electric guitar strums and drum hits bounced around the walls of the sleeping supreme leader's room. What even was that ungodly noise? Right. It was his and, to an extent, everyone nearby's alarm clock. He definitely should replace everyone's alarm clock with that sound. He could picture the screams of his various schoolmates with this rude and loud awakening. However, that would need to be put in Kokichi's Bucket List of Evil Plans For The Future. He can't do a major project and a minor prank like this at once. Switching alarm clock sounds can come later.

Today was the start of the Preparation Phase. He had three days to prepare for his master plan to "sabotage" Chiaki's party. Kokichi quickly got up from his bed and stretched his short figure upwards to pop his stiff bones. He then opened a small refrigerator that he had "acquired", popped open a can of Panta and chugged the refreshing drink down. He kicked the door of the refrigerator to close it and proceeded to freshen himself up for another school day.

School? Nah. He's got bigger fish to fry.

"Time to get down to business."

* * *

Classes in Hope's Peak were extremely dull and monotone. The teachers would just drone on and on and on about subjects that the majority of them don't even comprehend or enjoy discussing with their students. Seriously, what do they even know about engineering or agriculture? Even if they did have some sort of master's degree or whatever they present to prove that they are knowledgeable on the subject, it's not as if those were supposed to be common knowledge if you are an Ultimate. Your talent is your future. You go to Hope's Peak because of that talent. You continue to study in Hope's Peak to showcase and develop that talent. Some people knew that Hope's Peak isn't just some research facility. They would say that the school existed for Ultimates who were shunned by their talent to coexist with other Ultimates who suffered the same fate. That was highly debatable however. The people knew that there's some creepy old bozo out there will follow your every step and observe you like you're some lab rat in a laboratory experiment.

Or maybe that creepy old bozo is like the camera for a third-person shooter game and you're the point of interest for that camera.

And whatever Kokichi's doing right now, is exactly that.

Chiaki didn't realize that someone was tailing her and Nagito as they were going towards their classes until her fluffy-haired companion pointed it out after he looked at his left and saw that there was an extra shadow behind them.

"Huh, would you look at that." he said, stopping in his tracks which made the dozy gamer holding a Game Girl Advance to her face bump into his back and lose her footing from a very minor concussion. "How lucky of me to suddenly look to my left. It appears that someone was following us, Nanami-san."

After pausing her game, Chiaki turned around and saw a grinning Kokichi with his hands on his hips. "Were you following us, Oma-kun?" she asked calmly to their stalker... or so she thinks.

"Nuh-uh!" the smiling boy quickly replied. "I was just admiring Hope's Peak behind your backs. Just kidding! That was a lie."

"...So were you following us or not?" Chiaki asked again, wanting to not waste her energy trying to comprehend the supreme leader. She needed her limited energy points to deal with her classmates and be a class rep to them.

"Maybe~." he vaguely responded to the slightly annoyed sleepy gamer. As much as she loved mystery games, figuring out the mysterious and vague words that Kokichi weaved was just too mentally taxing. She'll try to solve them once she had the energy to do so, which will most likely never happen... probably.

"Nanami-san, you should just go on ahead." an unknown person said to her. Huh? Oh, that was Nagito. She forgot that he was even there. She mentally apologized to the white-haired boy. "I think he wants to talk to trash like me."

Chiaki didn't like that statement but she just wanted to go her class and continue her sleep there. She feels calmer and at ease when surrounded by her friends. Was that her environmental attribute?

"Ok..." she said while trying to stifle a large yawn with her hand. "...See you later then, Komaeda-kun." she waved mindlessly to Nagito and Kokichi as she tried to walk to inside the academy with an unbalanced gait and stride. She wonders if she finally became a zombie like in those survival horror games...

Walking was hard when she was under a sleepy status effect so she took a quick nap inside the school building while standing to recover her energy points. She was thankful that she had an energy recovery skill so that she wouldn't need to buy any potions since she lacked the gold coins to buy some. Maybe she would need to slay some nearby orcs or trolls in order to get those coins...

* * *

As the two watched the stumbling and zig-zagging Chiaki enter the building, Kokichi nudged Nagito with his finger and signaled him to their usual meeting spot. The white-haired boy simply shrugged and followed the supreme leader towards the school building and made a turn as they passed by the napping gamer.

After passing by a number of people going to their respective classrooms, they finally arrived at their meeting spot. This spot was claimed by the supreme leader because it was near a vending machine and because not many people go to this place at this time. Not to mention, the lighting in the area was dim enough so they wouldn't be noticed by the one-track-minded visitors. Kokichi cracked the bones of his knuckles and psyched himself up for a mental chess game with Nagito.

"Nishishi... I never knew you could lie so well, Komaeda-chan!" the supreme leader remarked with mock praise. "Did you lie to protect Nanami-chan from me?"

"Worthless filth like me couldn't lie as well as you do, Oma-kun." the white-haired boy happily refuted with a raised hand. "I only sent her inside so she can sleep at peace, away from my disgusting stench."

The other only raised his index finger towards his grin in response to his partner's self-deprecating rebuttal. "Well, were it any other person, I would've thought that degrading comment was directed at me. Not that I deny it or whatever. After all, I am an evil supreme leader. I prey on the most innocent and kindest of souls, like Nanami-chan or Fujisaki-chan for instance, then I make them my servants." the supreme leader blatantly stated with a menacing smirk. Kokichi's eyes darkened and narrowed and directly addressed the other. "But you're not one to look down on other Ultimates like that, isn't that riiiiight~?"

"You know me too well." Nagito replied, agreeing with Kokichi's analysis. "I expected nothing less from the Ultimate Supreme Leader!" he exclaimed with genuine praise which was unlike the other's mock appraise before his. "Anyway, was I correct in assuming that you have some business to do with trash like me?"

And with that, Kokichi quickly masked that smirk and transformed into a childlike expression and tone. "Yup! I need help from Komaeda-chan!"

Nagito let out a sigh and dropped his gaze to the floor. It seems like he was disappointed but what he felt didn't matter. He had other ways to force Nagito into cooperating. Time to have some fun messing around with the Ultimate Lucky Student!

"Is this about Nanami-san's party?"

"Hmmm... That and one other thing."

"Huh? What else would I have that you need?"

"Information."

"What?"

"I know that you have info on all of them, including Hinata-chan. I want some of that juuuuuicy and delicious dirt!"

"...What made you think that I would have blackmail material on them?"

"Nishishi... Maybe your luck?"

"Ah, you really shouldn't rely on me if that's your answer..."

"Really~? Cuz, I think you're very reliable, Komaeda-chan!"

"Even so, I don't understand, Oma-kun... I thought you came here to discuss how you want me to invite you to Nanami-san's party? If that is the case, why do you need to know their secrets? Are you... planning to blackmail us in the future?"

"Wooooah, slow down there, tiger! That's too many questions! Besides, you really shouldn't try to question or predict what I do, Komaeda-chan. You can try and hide that info from me by dodging the question, but I _will_ get that info. With what you know about me, I can prove to be _very_ capable. That being said, wouldn't it be a better idea if you just gave me what I want right now?"

"...I see. I still don't get the point, however."

"Just trust me! And that's not a lie! I swear on my dead dog's grave!"

"...But you don't have a dog...?"

"Ding-ding-ding! That's three points for Komaeda-chan! And since you know that, then you must know a lot of things about me and your group, riiight~?"

"That's a bit of a stretch to assume that, don't you think?"

"Wow, you're awfully stubborn, aren't you? You're being quite protective of your friends' secrets."

"What do you mean, Oma-kun? Shouldn't I be more mindful of how my fellow classmates' feelings if I intrude on their privacy?"

"Is that so? I thought you lacked empathy, Komaeda-chan..."

"..." Nagito stayed eerily silent after that remark while the other was smiling cheekily with his arms held high. Kokichi already knew that he placed a check on the other's pieces by targeting a sensitive topic. He played along the lucky student's gamble to tire him out of the topic and finally found an opening to drop that bomb of worms. It's only a matter of time before Nagito spills the beans.

And he did. Not in the way Kokichi expected however.

"Aha...!" the silenced Nagito let out a choked laugh, his body suddenly jolting and his thin facial muscles twitching like he was just struck with lightning. It was as if he was trying to keep himself from laughing but it was very clear that he was failing in that endeavor. Another and more accurate way to describe the scene that was unfolding before Kokichi's eyes is to imagine a demon possessing Nagito. That's how disturbing it was...

"Ah-hahahahaha! Impressive as always, Oma-kun! To think that someone like me could ever hope to protect the Ultimates' secrets by avoiding the question, you proved me wrong by turning the odds to your favor! Such talent! Such... great hope!" the deranged Nagito shouted in excessive praise and joy, wrapping his lean arms around his body as drool and sweat decorated his face. "It is truly an honor to be a worthy trial for the Ultimate Supreme Leader and to catch a glimpse of such great talent! Yep, I really am lucky!"

"Sooooo, is that a yes or a no?" Kokichi asked with a blank smile on his face, a little unnerved by the sweating and salivating Ultimate fanatic.

"I didn't say I wouldn't cooperate, did I? I just wanted to see that talent of yours at its best. The party would be but a mere stepping stone for your greatness! I would gladly help to make sure that your hope would shine the brightest amongst all the other weak hope." the white-haired boy said with unexpected enthusiasm and fervor.

"Greaaaaat~! Let's begin..." the smirking supreme leader said while extending a hand towards the other. "...partner."

With some reluctance, Nagito took the extended hand but as soon as he did, he winced in pain and pulled his own hand back. The poor boy turned his back and proceeded to kiss it while mouthing off several "Ow!"s.

"Nishishi... Were you _"shocked"_ , Komaeda-chan?"

Kokichi couldn't help but extend his wide grin even further. With its width, his face became distorted and that innocent grin transformed into something else entirely...

Something sinister.

* * *

"...Nanami-san. Wake..."

Chiaki let out an annoyed growl and shifted her head away from the person poking her. Can't she get one wink of sleep for once? She was just getting into that dream where she was a mage in a party to fight the Hydra. The beastly creature was only down to one blow to a supercharged beam and then she and her fellow members would gather the treasure that lurks within the swamp. It was a really hard fight and she didn't want to suddenly quit out of that dream game. There were no save points or save states during that battle and she didn't feel like going through that again. The more they kept poking her, the more her HP went down. She wanted that treasure and she was gonna get it. _Now_. Not later. But _**now**_.

"...wake up... need you..."

 _"C'mon, just six more turns before I unleash the beam..."_

"I'm... till... got it?"

 _"Five more turns..."_

"One."

 _"Four more turns..."_

"Two."

 _"Three more..."_

"Three."

 _"Two more..."_

"Four."

 _"One...!"_

"Five!"

 _"NOW!"_

And just as she waved her gold staff that had a pink heart on top in a circle to prepare her supercharged beam, her dream world shook. Wait, that can't be! The battlefield didn't have an Earthquake hazard. At this rate, her other party mates would die from this earthquake! She already used all of her All Revive spells and she would be brought down to critically low health! Not only that, but her beam would be delayed by an extra turn if she took damage this turn. With her party mates dead and a trembling mortally injured Chiaki left, the Hydra, giving a sadistic grin, raised its clawed hand with a purple venomous substance dripping from the sharp and jagged claws, and gestured one clean slash to the fragile mage. She hugged her glowing staff close to her body, shut her eyes tight and prepared for an overkill from the beast.

 _"I'm sorry everyone. I didn't plan ahead enough. I failed you all..."_

What was supposed to be a good dream, quickly turned into a nightmare for Chiaki.

The monster gave out one last roar and the mage tightened her grasp on the staff-

*slap*

"...Huh?" she felt a part of her cheek go sore from a Wake-Up Slap. Weird. She expected to have her head ripped clean off by that slash attack. "...I'm not dead?"

"Huh?!" Hiyoko spat at her angrily. "Did you seriously think that a slap like that would kill you?! God, you're even weirder than that nasty whore when she trips!" She went behind her target and gave a slight shove to the magically clumsy Mikan to prove her point.

"Eeek! I-I'm soooorryyyyy! P-p-please don't l-look, N-N-Nanami-san!" the whimpering nurse who had her legs spread on the ground by the legs of Chiaki's chair cried out as she tried to cover her exposed undergarments with her hands, but to no avail. Hiyoko was snickering at the two while Chiaki just stared blankly at the struggling Mikan, confused but for a different reason than what most people would think. How did she even end up flashing her garments to Chiaki from a shove from behind? Did she glitch out or something?

The utterly perplexed gamer only scratched her head in response to all these strange events. She thinks she's still dreaming so she just rested her head on her desk to go back to her other dream. Although, she doubts she'll spawn in the same area as before, not that she didn't not want to return there. She heard rumors that people who "die" in their sleep, die in real life. She also heard that real life doesn't have any restart options. Once you die, you are booted out of the game and the game will delete itself. She loved permadeath games, but with the memories she spent time gathering and the bonds she tried to form with her friends? Dying seems like a bad idea already... she thinks.

"Saionji-san? I don't believe that was a good example of Tsumiki-san tripping..." remarked Sonia who was smiling awkwardly at the scene before her. It seems nobody noticed the gamer drift back to her much wanted sleep. Finally. Time to-

*slap*

Chiaki felt another burning sensation on the other side of her cheeks. What was even happening right now? "...What kind of dream is this...?" she asked to the person who slapped her, who was the same person who gave her the first one.

"You know what?! Forget it, I'm done waking up this braindead bitch! Let's go ask for help somewhere else, Mahiru-nee!" Hiyoko angrily shouted as she pulled a very confused Mahiru by the arm outside their classroom.

Hold it.

The last thing Chiaki remembered was sleeping near the school entrance. How did she end up at their classroom? Also, where was Nagito at? Ah, right. He was talking to Kokichi about something. Maybe they carried her here and proceeded to talk elsewhere or maybe she was simply sleepwalking? It's not the first time she did the latter. That seems like a good enough reason so she'll just leave it at that one.

"N-Nanami-san? Are you a-a-alright?" a very concerned Mikan asked her while being supported by the arm by Sonia. She seems just as confused as Chiaki towards this problem.

"...I don't know. I was asleep by the school entrance and I suddenly woke up from somebody slapping me when I was supposed to be ripped to shreds by the Hydra..." she paused. "...I think."

"I am confused..." Sonia added her opinion to the conversation. "A Hydra is a creature of Greek mythology, correct? How were you supposed to be reduced to "itsy-bitsy pieces" from a foreign creature? I see no Hydra here, Nanami-san."

Ignoring that "itsy-bitsy pieces" remark, Mikan spoke up with reluctance. "U-umm. I th-think Nanami-san was j-j-just having a-a n-nightmare..." the stuttering nurse paused and thought about what that meant. Her face paled from the implications of her nightmare. "E-eeeek! I s-spoke out of turn! I-I-I'm sorry!" Oh. That wasn't the case, it seems.

"Tsumiki-san, we didn't deny you your right to speak, did we?" the blonde princess said to reassure the bawling nurse, her doll-like hand caressing the unevenly cut and unkempt hair of the other. The nurse still continued to weep. "However. A nightmare that includes a Hydra? My curiosity is piqued, Nanami-san. Have you seen one before?" Sonia's eyes sparkled with childlike interest of the unknown.

Chiaki's eyes lit up in excitement as well, that is, if one would squint. Her sleepy and slow tone contradicts the enthusiasm that her words have. "Yeah. Hydras are very hard to find and slay but they drop the best loot!" she "shouted" in a pitch that was half a decibel higher than normal. She let out a proud huff. "I've slain a total of 100 Hydras just with my special edition golden Jewelsword Staff!"

"Wow! That's amazing, Nanami-san! Please indulge us with your grand adventures of hunting a hundred Hydras with your most trusted weapon!" the very impressed royalty most excitedly requested, wanting to hear more of Chiaki's otherworldly tales.

The sleepy gamer smiled and actively retold her grinding sessions for getting a very rare drop from the Hydra's loot. While she was telling her story, Chiaki was glad that Sonia wasn't weirded out by her enthusiasm on the beauty of video games. She wasn't the first person who appreciated those stories like Sonia. There were other people too that enjoyed her eagerness to discuss her hobbies as they understood how it felt to be attached to something and wanting to share their attachment to other people so they can see what you see. She would often talk about the good things this game had, the best parts of that game's story, the art and music that most games have.

While that was a good trait for her to have, it distanced her from the majority. Chiaki didn't have any friends nor best friends prior to coming to Hope's Peak. Other people gave strange or disgusted looks at the gamer because of her talent. It was great to have a talent, that was a fact that she and the others didn't deny, but deep inside she knew that by talking about her amazing feats as the Ultimate Gamer and by talking about her video games, it was like she was shoving her talent to the forefront of their brain; like she was just telling them how talentless and boring they were compared to her. Of course, she didn't really mean that but that talent chained her down to that popular belief. Her life became all about video games. When talking about Chiaki, you talk about the Ultimate Gamer. Chiaki Nanami, the human being who had wants, thoughts and feelings like other human beings, was forgotten and became Chiaki Nanami, the Ultimate Gamer and video game nerd.

Before she became friends with Hajime, who was a part of that majority, she didn't think that much about how the others would feel when she got so into her talking. She always envied of the freedom that people like Hajime had. It was by spending time with her talentless friend that she realized how hard his life was, and how hard and painful it was for him to be close with an Ultimate like her. She didn't mind his lack of talent. Actually, she loved Hajime for being... Hajime. She loved that smiling person who didn't mind her when she was talking incessantly about video games and her fellow lonely Ultimates. Yet... She wanted to know if he felt the same way she did. She wanted to know if Hajime liked her for being her.

She wanted to know if Hajime was faking that sweet, sweet smile just to make her feel happy...

That would suck... really suck if he did though. It wouldn't just be worse than a Game Over, it would be the _**worst**_ possible ending ever.

Therefore, in order to avoid that, she manipulated her brain, like how she manipulated the RNG in her video games to make the random drops go in her favor, into thinking that Hajime wasn't faking his smile.

Yeah. It was better and happier that way.

No more single-player games...

No more loneliness...

No more lies...

Chiaki's train of thought was stopped by a creaking sound of a sliding door and a very loud group of familiar voices just beyond the classroom door. The three people in the room looked over to the door to see who just came in.

"Hmhmhm! What do we have here? Why wasn't I invited to this thre-"

"OK! That's enough from Teruteru-chan now. We'll be right back after these messages!"

"Well, that makes all 15 of us."

"Don't you know how to count? Komaeda's not here yet, dumbass!"

"Wh-Who cares about that guy anyway?! He's nothing but trouble!"

"Isn't he supposed to be one of the first people here among us?"

"Maybe he just went to the cafeteria to grab a lil' bite?"

"Your eyes have grown weaker, Owari. We were just by the cafeteria!"

"I can attest to that. I was just by the cafeteria as well after you two loudmouths left."

"Yeah, uh, why are we concerned about that creepy pervert?"

Everyone sans Nagito soon went to their respective seats. The chatter amongst the other students didn't dial down though. Seeing this as her cue, Chiaki assumed her position as their class rep and stretched her limbs to diminish the atrophy from her earlier nap time to address her fellow Ultimates. She needed to act as the leader amongst the group if their teacher wasn't present for homeroom. She knew that Chisa was always busy, hence the early voting for the class rep position.

Chiaki went to the front of the class and cleared her throat, signaling that homeroom was in session. She tried to raise her voice to the same level as their teacher but her throat wasn't that leveled up yet. She made a mental note to train with Ibuki to develop Chords of Steel.

"Okay everyone! Before we start discussing the party, does anyone remember the last time they saw Komaeda-kun?"

The group all had the same answer in their minds: the last time anyone saw him was yesterday. That's fine. She just had to approach from another angle then.

"...Has anyone seen Oma-kun today?"

"The fuck? What does that prick have to do with where Komaeda is?!" Fuyuhiko shouted in confusion. Apparently, the others had the same question in mind as well. The two have similar traits and... tendencies but no one has ever seen them together before nor had Nagito claimed a connection with Kokichi. It was logical to ask what the connection was between them.

"Before I came here, Komaeda-kun was with me. He told me to go on ahead since Oma-kun wanted to talk to him about something. It seemed important so I decided to let them have their privacy..."

The class stayed silent after she said that. Upon examining their expressions further, their faces were partially blue and their eyes were... bulging?

"CODE RED! CODE RED! IBUKI. EXE IS FAILING AND CAN'T GET UP!" a foaming Ibuki said while trying to imitate those announcers that said "DANGER! DANGER!" in some military shooters.

"What's wrong? Is... something the mat-?"

"Don't you realize... what this means, Nanami?" Peko interrupted her with rare trepidation laced in her blank tone.

"No, I..." Chiaki paused for a moment to think harder about this. She tried to remember if Nagito acted strange prior to this day. Nevertheless, it was hard to pinpoint when Nagito's strange behavior became more strange. He was hard to understand sometimes. "...I don't. Should I be worried?"

"Worried? WORRIED?! CANCEL THE PARTY, NANAMI!" Kazuichi shouted while hiding his face under his beanie. If he was a Koopa Troopa, jumping on his beanie might cause him to hide his entire body under it. Wait, that's not the issue here! Kazuichi just said that she should cancel the party! She can't just cancel it but she needed to know why she has to.

"Cancel the party? Didn't we already agree to holding a party a month ago?"

"I-I-If I may answer..." a shaky Mikan tried to answer. Chiaki gave her the signal to continue. "...w-we should li-listen to Soda-san."

"I don't wanna agree with this stinky pig shit, but she's right. If you want to live longer, stay away from that gremlin." Hiyoko warned their class rep darkly with her threatening words of "advice".

"...But he won't hurt us, will he?" Chiaki calmly replied to her classmates' warnings. "We can't just cancel the party because Komaeda-kun spoke with Oma-kun. They won't do anything dangerous... I think."

"Perhaps, you should take this time to realize how flawed your words are." Gundham refuted. "The Prince of Lies is always lurking within the shadows, searching for a suitable prey to spit its virulent tongue on. Considering how he already sunk his fangs on our helpless and demented ally, it would only be a matter of time before he learns of our banquet. When the moon glows brightly on the night of our gathering, he would unleash his venom upon us all!"

Chiaki opened her mouth to answer but she was interrupted by a chuckling white-haired boy opening the door to their classroom. The others looked at him suspiciously, locking their glares at him to prepare for a missile strike, yet their target paid them no mind. Knowing his luck, even he was capable of sidestepping a homing projectile.

"...I agree with our class rep. We should not avoid this opportunity for your hopes to shine even brighter!"

The others didn't trust that statement. They knew that some plan was already being set behind their backs. Nagito was cunning and so was Kokichi. It's natural that they doubt the lucky student, especially after his conversation with the supreme leader. Chiaki had some doubts too but that's normal, right? She wanted to trust him, so first, she needs to dispel this doubt that looms over the others and herself.

"Fuhahahaha! Splendid! It appears the traitor has decided to show itself after all! Had you stalled for more time, I would have sent my Four Dark Devas of Destruction to annihilate your infected body! Surrender your corrupted soul to me now and I may grant clemency towards your punishment."

"Alright, time to spill. What were you two assholes talkin' about?!"

Nagito managed a calm face and a happy-go-lucky expression as he walked his usual stride towards his spot at the back of the class. "Whoever do you mean, Kuzuryu-kun? I spoke to a lot of people on my way here."

"Don't play dumb with me, you motherfucker! You know exactly who I am talking about!" Fuyuhiko had half a mind to rush towards Nagito's seat and grab him by the collar of his green oversized hoodie but after he looked at the general direction of where Peko was, he apparently dismissed the thought.

"And you don't even talk to the others aside from us!" Kazuichi added, pointing a finger towards the white-haired boy who remained smiling even under constant suspicion.

Before Nagito could talk, Chiaki raised her hand to calm her classmates down. "Komaeda-kun, earlier you told me there was something you and Oma-kun discussed. I understand if you want to keep your conversation with him a secret but please tell us if he is planning something for our party. If he wants to be with us, I will personally send him an invitation." she paused for a moment to load up her next words. "We're just concerned about the party..."

Nagito let out a sigh of disappointment and rubbed his head. "Ah, so this was what got you Ultimates riled up? How disappointing..." His condescending expression and insulting remark struck an angry chord among the crowd. Not long after, his look of disappointment transformed into a bitter smile. "...for me to be a bother to all you symbols of hope. I truly am worthless trash."

As soon as the white-haired boy went on to his self-deprecating comment, the others let out their sounds of disgust and irritation. Chiaki kept up a straight face and addressed Nagito.

"Does this mean that whatever you two discussed wasn't related to the party?"

"I don't know what Oma-kun is planning but I can assure you that whatever we discussed today doesn't involve the party."

Chiaki let out a relieved sigh. If she was being honest, she might have considered postponing the party because of Gundham's foreboding words. She was happy to know that their worries or concerns were all for nothing. "Thank you, Komaeda-kun. At least, now we can continue on with the party."

Nagito chuckled. "Please, Nanami-san. Disgusting vermin like me don't deserve your words of gratitude..."

"Yeah yeah yeah. Can we talk about the party now? Ibuki's getting bored with all these stuff about Nagito-chan and Kokichi-chan..."

"Ok! Now about the party..."

* * *

 _"Please release me from this torture..."_

That was the only line of thought that was present in the vast mind of Kokichi. Nothing else mattered. His classmates, his plans and even the dirt he got from Nagito didn't matter in his brain. He just mentally begged for sweet, sweet freedom...

...freedom from the after class meeting of his fellow classmates.

"...any thoughts, Oma-kun?"

Kokichi heard Kaede ask for his opinion but he only let out a childish moan. What?! She asked for his thoughts and his thoughts were moans and groans! He had other more important things to do Atua-damn it! He was planning to escape Hope's Peak to gather his the other stuff that he needed to "sabotage" Chiaki's party after his earlier meeting with Nagito but his "luck" somehow made the four lovebirds of his group appear, preventing him from thinking of a proper hiding place. Bullshit! Their meeting spot didn't have a hiding place planned in case of "emergencies" since almost no one comes to that place but the four people he least expected to show up at this place came for a Atua-damned drink from the vending machine!

 _"Well, well, well! Karma's a bitch, huh?!"_

Kokichi mentally cursed Shuichi's keen eyes and Kaede's sensitive ears. He could have easily avoided the three slowpokes but Maki was there with them. Trying to do anything funny while cornered by four people will only get him into a stranglehold by the assassin. He'd rather take a black eye from Kaito instead of a crushed windpipe any day, without a doubt. Kokichi's right eye may have looked like a black hole from the Ultimate Astronaut's Meteor Strike but what's a black eye gonna do anyway? As if they heard that insulting question in his mind, the four of them roped the struggling and whining supreme leader into class. Attending class was akin to voluntary torture. They knew that and yet they subjected him to that torture under the guise of competing with the near perfect attendance of Chiaki's group. Since when was having complete attendance a competition in Hope's Peak anyway?!

There was one thing that was for certain. They _**will**_ pay for this. No one messes with the Ultimate Supreme Leader without a few scars in both mind and body.

"Oi, you havin' an orgasm over there? Fuckin' work that tongue already so we can get out! I got some things to invent over here!"

Kokichi let out another childish moan and slammed his head on his desk from that painfully familiar vulgarity of Miu. That's all her mouth's good for anyway.

He swears he'll burn this academy to the ground someday. But not until he's satisfied with the pained cries and howls of his schoolmates from his evil plans. Day by day, the supreme leader's mind and sanity grows thinner and thinner playing with these idiots all the time. He'll eventually snap but he has to persist for now.

He'll finally get his satisfaction once he sees Chiaki's perfect group crumble to pieces from the bugs of Gonta's exhibit.

* * *

After a very long and excruciating torture, Kokichi felt more tired than usual; all vigor and drive were siphoned from his body just from that boring-ass meeting about the party. He decided to call off their scheduled meeting with Nagito since it was already getting really dark and that his mind just wasn't up to dealing with the white-haired boy. Nagito was very disappointed but the supreme leader didn't give a single crap about what that guy thinks right now. He's very exhausted and he just wants some Atua-damned rest.

He still had plenty of time to prepare after all.

After passing by the usual scene of Hajime and Chiaki doing whatever they were doing by the fountain, the supreme leader arrived at his dorm and didn't even bother to lock the door this time. He immediately flopped down and sprawled his body over his unmade bed and drifted back to his land of magical land of ponies and rainbows.

 _"Good night. Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite."_

* * *

A/N: Please tell me what you think of the POVs so far! Was it somehow in-character? If you have any sort of feedback regarding the fic, I encourage you to tell me. I check the comment threads of my fic regularly and it makes me happy if I see that someone commented something on my fic!


	3. Preparing pt. 2

A/N: Finally, an update! To tell you guys the truth, this should have been posted yesterday. (January 5, 2019)

Remember when I said that the next parts weren't going to be long? I lied! Sorta. My brain just didn't give me any chill while trying to brainstorm for some ideas for this fic. Often times, I even fell asleep while trying to make this only to be woken up by my brain, telling me that I need to finish this long ass chapter.

I think that I may have overdone it, which is why I have to turn to everyone's humble opinions. Please tell me what you guys think about the fic so far. I'm still kinda new to this and I need your opinions so I can find ways to improve my writing.

* * *

It's a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing; flowers are blooming - you get the point. The day sings another song for Kokichi to wake up and smell the peace wafting throughout the morning air in his room. There's just one thing that's disconcerting about this morning, it's too quiet-

" **RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-** "

 _"Ugh..."_ Kokichi angrily slammed his hand down on the digital alarm clock in his room to silence the heavy death metal that would never fail to wake him up every single day. He felt better than normal today and he didn't want to hear that loud _noise_ that would otherwise ruin this perfect day. It looks like his prank on the other unfortunate sleeping Ultimates near his room backfired heavily today.

The supreme leader went about his usual morning routine with an unusual spring in his step to prepare for another school day that he's planning to ditch anyway. After he finished doing that, he locked the door to his room and twisted the doorknob to open it, only to find out that the door wasn't budging at all.

 _"No wait that's not right..."_ he thought to himself aloud as he frantically twisted and pulled on the door to get it to open. The supreme leader began to apply more force not only on the doorknob, but on the whole door itself. "Open up, you stupid door!" he shouted as he punched and kicked the vertical rectangle of a wall that's blocking him from the outside world.

He stopped trying to beat the door up and glanced at the digital alarm clock that was sitting on his bedside table. It was nearing the usual waking hours of his neighbors. What would an evil supreme leader do in this type of scenario? The cogs and gears in his brain started to turn as he thought of a more interesting way to make his morning even better. After some moments of musing to himself, the ends of his lips curved sharply upwards into a Cheshire cat smile upon the realization of a perfect plan to ruin the day of the other dumber Ultimates. He grabbed the doorknob, licked the dry crust of his lips, inhaled deeply through his nose...

...And shouted at the top of his lungs.

" **SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!** "

Kokichi tried hard to fight back the giggle that was threatening to escape his lips. He had to keep this act as a trapped victim up. He shouted again and again while trying to twist the doorknob in a frenzy. In addition to this, the supreme leader used his free limbs to force the door open in childish aggression. He continued to shout and scream for fake help, hoping that some idiot out there would take the bait he casted. After a short amount of time, he heard the rapid tapping of sandals and metal on the hardwood floor that became more audible and louder which came after the sound of a door closing. Kokichi's smirk extended even further to impossible lengths as he knew exactly who those dunderheads were.

"IS SOMEBODY THERE?!! PLEASE HELP ME, I'M TRAPPED!!!" he shouted yet again to draw more attention. Tears came spilling out of his eyes not because he was genuinely scared, but because he was trying to fight back the laughter and used his tear ducts to do so. He forcefully clenched his teeth to prevent that laughter from being heard. It was incredibly difficult for Kokichi to not laugh at the thought of their angry faces once the plan actually works.

"Oi, what the hell's goin' on in there, Oma?!"

"Please calm down, Oma-kun! We're here!"

The two concerned voices belonged to both Kaito and Kiibo respectively. He hurried to his drawer to grab a bag of marbles that he had brought as a souvenir from his "evil" organization that consisted of over 10,000 members. He made sure to put the marbles on the area behind his position that was in front of the door.

"HELP ME! I CAN'T GET OUT CAUSE THE DOOR'S STUCK!"

"Stuck? Don't tell me this is another one of your lies!"

"I'M EFFING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW, KIIBOY!" Kokichi twisted and pulled on the doorknob. "SEE?! THE DOOR'S STUCK!"

"Are you sure you didn't just accidentally lock your door?"

"I'M NOT STUPID LIKE YOU, MOMOTA-CHAN! HOW 'BOUT Y'ALL JUST MOVE YER ASSES AND BREAK THE DOOR DOWN INSTEAD OF ANTAGONIZING ME?! I'VE BEEN IN HERE FOR OVER AN HOUR NOW!"

"Fine, fine! Just shut up, will ya?! Oi, Kiibo! We're up."

"Wait! Let's think about this logically before-"

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO DO ROBOT STUFF LIKE CALCULATE OR THINK OF A LOGICAL RESPONSE! I JUST SAID I'VE BEEN IN HERE FOR OVER AN HOUR AND I'M NOT GONNA WAIT FOR ANOTHER DAMN MINUTE!"

"Look, let's just get this over with. I don't wanna put up with his shouting and screaming in my ear any longer..."

"V-Very well. On the count of three, we're going to bust through this door. It would be wise if you stepped away from the door, Oma-kun."

Kokichi let out a quiet giggle as he silently unlocked the door and readied his hand on the doorknob. "O-kay! Thanks, you two!"

"One."

"Two."

"Three!"

As soon as he heard the both of them roar out their battle cry, Kokichi twisted and pulled the doorknob in one swift motion. Since the two weren't fast enough to stop the momentum of their charge, their feet ran into the scattered marbles on the carpeted floor which caused both Kaito and Kiibo to do a somersault in the air. They both shouted in surprise from the sudden shift of friction on the floor mid flight. After a large thud on the ground, Kokichi immediately went for the exposed Good Night Button on the robot's neck and slammed his hand down on it like he was playing Whack-A-Mole with his hand. Before Kiibo could say anything, his voice decelerated and deepened into nothingness. Kaito let out a pained groan and tried to lift his body off the floor. Unfortunately for him, an immobile heavy hunk of metal was piled on top of the grounded astronaut. How ironic. An astronaut who was supposed to reach for the stars was squashed to the ground facing down thanks to Kiibo's heavy body. Such is the harsh reality of an astronaut...

"Nishishi... I can't believe you idiots fell for another lie!" the laughing supreme leader shouted to the groaning Kaito and quickly booked it to the next flight towards Nagito, not even bothering to close the door to his room. Didn't he make sure to hide any secret information that he had in his room before he went to sleep last night? Maybe. Maybe not. In truth, he doesn't remember anything past the point when he laid down on his bed. Well, at least he made double sure to bring his To Do List so that no one would find out his plans about Chiaki's party.

That could be a lie, however...

But if there's one thing that's really for certain, it's that Kokichi is a good liar. No one can nor will deny that no matter how good you are at lying to yourself.

* * *

It's a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing; flowers are blooming-

"If I may suggest, you need to stop hanging out with that filthy excuse of a symbol of hope, Nanami-san."

And if Nagito doesn't stop calling Hajime trash, worthless or whatever, Chiaki swears she's going to let him taste her Heaven-slaying Dragon Fist. He's already seen what happened to Teruteru when she used that move to protect Hiyoko; although, using that move would take up 100% of her current energy level. This time, she made sure to top it up. Even if she's at 100%, she's not afraid to unleash the full might of her Heaven-slaying Dragon Fist if the white-haired boy doesn't stop verbally harassing her best friend who was mercifully granted absence from this conversation and a one-time display of a gamer girl's hidden wrath.

No one deserves to be called trash or worthless. Not even Hajime nor Nagito.

Chiaki is a very patient and understanding person mostly because she believes that it feels good when people are willing to put up with your narcolepsy and constantly tired tone; so she thinks that others would feel the same if she returns the favor to them. That would make sense, right? Everyday, Chiaki would need to put up with the rowdiness of her classmates not only as a class rep, but as a friend. They would sometimes return the favor, by offering to cook her some delicious food, volunteering to fix her consoles if they ever break or by "offering their body", which she still doesn't understand what Mikan meant by that.

Really, how can someone offer their body in the first place? Wouldn't that mean they're sacrificing their current character stats to evolve into a higher star rating character card with better stats? Don't they also know that there's a 43.5% chance of success for that? Those are scary odds... she thinks.

Anyways, there were also some times when they aren't patient with her, like when she tried to play this multiplayer game called Basketball with her friends. Chiaki played the game on her video game consoles and some arcade machines, but not on "this" console. It didn't help that she had a hard time playing these kinds of utterly realistic HD games where she had complete control of her body, which includes coordination, skills, and... stamina. There are a lot of stats that are considered important in this game but the thing is, she hasn't leveled any of them up. Her stats were horrendously scaled for this kind of game, sacrificing a lot of the recommended stats, like power, agility, stamina and whatnot, for maxing her coordination and dexterity stat. She didn't know a good strategy to use for her stats, but the point of the game is to have fun, right? She had fun even though her team was on the losing end, but the others didn't. They said that she was the reason they lost. Kazuichi blamed her for not passing the ball fast enough and Akane blamed her for moving too slow with the ball, in which case, the shot clock timer ran out while she was still dribbling the ball at the backcourt. She basically granted the other team a free win. Chiaki did feel bad about failing her team - she always does, but she still tries her best to understand their frustrations and anger towards her; after all, no character is perfect... or so she thinks. That day was different however; she felt less enthusiastic about her meeting with Hajime after that game but at least he was always there to cheer her up and she will always be thankful for that.

Chiaki is fully aware as well that there are some people that take advantage of her leniency, like Hiyoko or Teruteru for example, and manipulate her into doing whatever they want her to do. She doesn't mind this. She always believes that there is good in people who appear or claim to be evil. Just as there are some bad parts about some people, there also some good parts to them... probably. Which is why she believes that Kokichi isn't the evil supreme leader he claims to be. Even with all his lies and deception, she knows that he's a good person who just has different ideas for fun. He can be a good friend to everyone, that is if he decides to unequip his "Deception" skill or change his "Trickster" class. Kokichi's lies can be very tiring for the sleepy gamer, both physically and mentally. She struggles to keep up with his logic since he always changes his stances on a whim by admitting to a lie, which could also be a lie on its own. It was just lies on top of lies decorated with more lies with another lie as the cherry on top. It was like a cake of lies. Not to mention that the cake itself could be a lie as well...

 _*yawn* "Even imagining those lies was exhausting..."_

Case in point, Chiaki is very patient and understanding to everyone but even she has her limits. She knows what rage and anger can do to a person just from playing Asura's Wrath, which is why she tries to control her temper so that she can keep a good mental image for her classmates, but Nagito needs to stop if he knows what's best for both of them.

"Stop talking about Hinata-kun like that." she shot back at the white-haired boy. The two slowed their pace to make it easier for them to talk. "Just because he's talentless doesn't mean that he's a lesser human being. We've been over this already, Komaeda-kun... I think."

"Just as I thought..." he mumbled mindlessly to himself and stopped in his tracks. However, Chiaki didn't stop walking and simply pulled up her hood over her head, thinking that the pointy-eared attachment can cover her own ears. "...your hope has been infected with his filth. You must cleanse yourself from this impurity, Nanami-san! Your hope cannot shine even brighter if he-" he quickly stopped his rambling when Chiaki suddenly stomped her foot loudly in frustration on the pavement and froze in place.

Something snapped inside her. That must have been the last straw. She couldn't take another insult on her best friend. Hajime, _impure_? That remark was so wrong on so many levels that it could be enough to make a fully fleshed-out platformer game. Chiaki tried to completely hold in her anger but she clearly failed; however, at least she restrained herself enough so she wouldn't hurt Nagito with a Heaven-slaying Dragon Fist. She came close to using it the first time he started looking down and talking down on Hajime, but she didn't want to punch her friend in front of her best friend. The urge was stronger this time, since there's no Hajime around to hold her back, but she had to get a grip on her senses right now! She wasn't going to punch the white-haired boy but she just won't let that remark slide anymore. She needs to set his attitude straight if she's planning to bring Hajime to the party.

Chiaki turned around to give Nagito her most intimidating glare ever, which was a puffy face with deeply furrowed eyebrows. "Don't make me repeat myself, Komaeda-kun. I'm trying to resist the urge to use my special attack on you right now but I'm a lot stronger than that." She walked towards Nagito with a faster pace, stood on her tiptoes so their faces are level, and proceeded to spit her next words to his surprised face, all thoughts of personal space and distance thrown out the window. "But if you keep saying what you're saying about Hinata-kun, I'm banning you from participating and watching our class gaming sessions for a whole year. Got it?"

Nagito just continued to stare at her face with a look of utter nonplus plastered on his face. Critical Hit! Chiaki knew that her classmates would always look forward to their gaming sessions and whenever she did cancel some to make room for more time with Hajime, they would always look so disappointed. It was painful for her to do that but so was leaving Hajime hanging, so she had to make some hard decisions to spend time with everyone. She hasn't banned anyone before from her gaming sessions, much less for a year, and this would be the first time she's threatened someone.

It felt _horrible_ to do this to Nagito, to act like the big bad final boss to her friend, but she had to get her point across somehow... probably.

The white haired boy knocked himself out of his dazed state and nodded sluggishly at her threat. "...That was surprising, Nanami-san. I never expected you to threaten me with _that_ but..." he shifted his gaze towards his palm and gave another one of those smiles towards it. "...I am trash and trash should always learn their place."

Chiaki took a step back and sighed at his usual remarks about himself. He really needed to stop saying those things about himself... maybe. On the bright side, at least they came to a concession of sorts, right?

"...I'm gonna go on ahead now. Are you coming or not?" Chiaki asked the lucky student, reverting back to her relaxed and lethargic state.

"You shouldn't really bother with me." Nagito stated as nonchalantly as ever. "I've already aggravated you enough with my disgusting and putrid presence-"

"Are you coming or not?" she asked him again, not having any more of the other's disparaging remarks about himself. "I just want to know if you _want_ to or not. Not if you _should_ or _shouldn't_."

"You can just go on ahead, Nanami-san. I'll catch up with you after I stop by the vending machine for a drink." he stated with a casual wave of his hand. That's probably the closest she'll get to as an answer from the evasive boy so she simply shrugs.

Chiaki waved back at Nagito and exchanged their goodbyes with each other, then attempted to saunter towards the massive building. The already tired gamer wished she hadn't waste that much energy into threatening the lucky student. She was at a staggering 40% left just from that mentally draining conversation. Maybe she'll just power off at the classroom instead since she won't hold any class meetings for today...

Prob-

"...!" Chiaki felt a shiver up her spine and glanced at her left as she sensed someone or some thing pass by her. Her peripheral vision only saw a flash of white for a moment. She felt her heart beat faster so she took this moment to listen to Mikan's random advice to her one day and take some deep breaths while placing her hand over it to calm her heartbeat. She took one last exhale and thought back to that strange quick-time event. Was that a ghost just now?

Chiaki pondered on that question for a moment now, forgetting the fact that some of these questions were under a time limit like in those visual novels since she was usually fast in getting the answers. Must have been an illusion... or so she thinks. Looking back at it now, she must have forgotten to equip her anti-illusion cloak today to block off the strange sensations that would sometimes overcome her or the random visions she would see when she would enter the academy. She made a mental note to ask Gundham to give her some sort of protection for today... just to be safe.

What Chiaki didn't know, was that flash of white was actually the strap on Kokichi's suit fluttering by the very corner of her vision for a brief second when she looked to her left.

* * *

"I'm really impressed by how easily you can anger Nanami-chan. Even I couldn't do that as easily as you do, Komaeda-chan!" Kokichi said with an all-knowing smile on his face while sipping on a can of Panta from the vending machine. He had to admit that these were the stuff and anyone who says otherwise will be brought to the gallows.

"Didn't I already divulge my classmates' secrets and weaknesses to you yesterday?" Nagito asked with an annoyed expression on his face. "But if I were to be honest, It might've been because of my luck and my repugnance that angered Nanami-san."

"Nishishi... Though, it was pretty interesting how you got her to threaten you." the supreme leader jokingly commented. "I didn't think she'd be able to shut you up with such a petty threat."

"Like how you did to me yesterday, Oma-kun?" the other remarked with his arms crossed.

"Oh yeaaaah. I did shut you up, didn't I?"

The two continued to have their little break from the preparations and info gathering for a while; well, not so much for the latter since in a way, this could considered as gathering info. Making casual conversation can drop some pretty interesting stuff to pick up and considering how Kokichi's buddy is the Ultimate Lucky Student, he's certain that he would strike a gold mine of sorts.

Like that interesting tidbit about Hajime that the white-haired boy dropped so casually yesterday...

Information had power, and in some cases, they had more power than the most destructive weapons mankind can manufacture. One can always plant a bomb near a park during a kid's birthday party or one can take out a key member of society with a single bullet from afar, but information has the power to gain control over a person's life. Imagine a puppeteer masterminding the very actions that you thought were of your free will. With information, you can just force or discreetly manipulate a person's thoughts and actions. From something as petty and near-sighted as doxxing that anonymous cyberbully that harassed you over the past years to something as large and grand-scale as brainwashing society with news media; that all can happen when one gains access to pertinent information.

Kokichi gained information and because of that, he gained power and control over the lives of Chiaki's strange circle of friends. With this powerful tool at his disposal, he could end any of their sappy and cheesy friendships that had been forged over the course of their high school lives, or he could gain servants that would bend over their backs at his beck and call. The possibilities were endless for an evil supreme leader such as Kokichi.

 _"Nishishi... Maybe I should start recruiting some new members."_ he mumbled to himself as he finished the last drops of the sweet grape-y goodness of his beverage before he momentarily tossed it at a nearby trashcan behind him. His mind detoured back to what he heard about that talentless Reserve Course Student. There were rumors among the higher-ups of HPA that revolved around a secret project and some missing Reserve Course students. The smarter ones speculated that the two were connected. It would make sense to think that the school hid their disappearances in order to keep the project's existence a secret. Kokichi was actually planning to get more info on that but that was before he learned about the three secret parties. Now, he learned all that he needed to for the time being. Nagito somehow made a "lucky" guess about how Hajime was connected to this secret project. The supreme leader doubted if that was really true or not but he had a way to check.

There was a saying that revolves around the dark underbelly of society: _"It takes a liar to know a liar."_

And Kokichi's ability to detect lies is just as good as his ability to lie.

"Hmmmm, I guess I can easily anger Nanami-chan..."

"I'm curious. How so?"

"Oh, you'll see during the party..."

"About the party..."

"Ah right! I can't believe you distracted me with Panta, Komaeda-chan! Looks like I'm going to have to punish you!~"

"As expected of a man of your talent! You don't play nice and clean, do you, Oma-kun?"

Kokichi playfully chuckled at the white-haired boy's response. "Nishishi... don't worry, that's just a lie!" he said, winking at the other in a playfully exaggerated manner. "Oh, but let's make this snappy. Don't wanna have a repeat of yesterday's _unfortunate_ events!"

It was Nagito's turn to chuckle. "Ah, so that's what happened yesterday after I left... I really should learn my place, shouldn't I?"

"Don't sweat it! At least I wasn't hit by a _literal_ meteorite or anything, riiiiight?"

Nagito was silenced once again by the supreme leader's tactless remark and bored a hole at the other with his eyes.

"W-Woah! Don't glare at me like that! That was just a harmless joke, Komaeda-chan!"

...Besides, the worst hasn't even come yet.

* * *

After Kokichi's postponed meeting with Nagito, they both went to their respective classes. The white-haired boy planned to make it to his classes on-time today while the other planned to drag Gonta away from classes so they can finally set up the venue for "Nanami-chan's Minions"'s torture chamber. Well, he wouldn't tell that to the brute since unlike the evil supreme leader that Kokichi is, Gonta wouldn't set up a torture chamber for them. So why not just tell him a little lie? He would _love_ to get some visitors to his Insect Exhibit, right?

As he slid the classroom door open with one forceful motion and made a dramatic pose in front of the class, he was immediately pinned to the wall by a very angry Maki. Kokichi instinctively clawed at the arm of the hand that was squeezing his windpipe mercilessly, trying to pry himself away from its crushing grip which only made that grip somehow stronger than it already is. It was a good thing he had some sort of a backup plan after his recent prank to both Kaito and Kiibo just in case Maki found out about what he did to her little high school crush.

"If I were you... Harukawa-chan... I'd put me down... or else..." Kokichi choked out a threat of his own with a pained smirk on his face.

"You... _**Do you want to die?!**_ " Maki slowly stated with a very killer-like expression to her suffocating victim who seems to be enjoying this. She tightened her her vice-like hold on his short neck, which caused the other to let out a few weird sounds with his throat.

The others were all shocked by the fake caregiver's sudden murderous intent and tried to reason with her. What a bunch of naïve idiots! They should know that once someone has a very clear intention to kill, diplomacy should immediately be thrown out of the question for suitable choices! And as the supreme leader expected, she didn't listen to anybody, not even to their resident class rep and detective. He only hoped that Kaito would try to pull her away or else he'll drop the bomb on the whole class about her real Ultimate talent.

Kokichi strained his eyes, which were beginning to close from the lack of oxygen, to find a sign that Kaito was in this classroom. It seems that he wasn't here after all. Everything was falling to place for his big reveal to the people present. "Yeah... go on and... choke me to death right now..." the supreme leader said with eerie confidence. "...Show them... the monster that hides... inside you..."

After Maki listened to Kokichi's threatening words with a frustrated scoff at the end, she let go of the gasping and panting supreme leader. "I'm going to check on that idiot in the clinic." Her eyes flared with an intense and deep red as she addressed the others. "Don't even think about following me." she coldly stated to the others before turning her back and leaving the classroom.

After Maki's stunning farewell, the others shifted their gaze and glared at the grinning supreme leader who was still panting and coughing from his lack of oxygen. Kaede spoke up first. "Ah geez! We were just about to start checking attendance and now Harukawa-san walked out! What did you do to make her that angry, Oma-kun?!"

"Nishishi... don't you trust Saihara-chan to find out the truth? I could always lie to you, Akamatsu-chan..." he hoarsely replied, still grinning at his small victory against his attacker. "...or, better yet, why don't you ask the ones who were directly involved, hmmm?"

"Typical degenerate behavior! Always lying to protect their own skin; they're the worst of the worst!" Tenko commented while doing something with her hands that resembles a battle pose.

"Yeah, not cool..." Ryoma remarked with a deep voice while pulling down his beanie. "Just fess up and confess already. You're not making this situation any easier for yourself by lying constantly, you know..."

The others then joined forces with Kaede in scolding the "real victim" for making Maki leave. Kokichi was getting assaulted and bashed for, what, threatening a trained and "licensed" serial killer with blackmail?! He was a freaking evil supreme leader, for crying out loud! Why should _he_ apologize for his evildoings? Well, in retrospect, they all didn't know who Maki really was. Since they all turned a blind eye towards the truth that Maki tried to strangle him for doing a harmless but funny prank on the two idiots, Kokichi figured that he should just confess already to put an end to this annoying farce, and he knew exactly how to do it.

The supreme leader began to tear up, readying his eyes to spill out a tsunami's worth of tears. "UWWWWAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! OK! OK! I'LL ADMIT IT ALREADY! I'M THE REASON WHY MOMOTA-CHAN IS IN THE CLINIC RIGHT NOW!" Kokichi cried out a literal cartoonish waterfall from his eyes. Even he had to admit that he was impressed by how much he can cry. "Whew, that's a relief. I feel so much better now that I've confessed to my sins!"

The room was shocked into silence by the sudden change of emotions. After a while, Rantaro simply laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "No matter how many times I try to get used to this emotional whiplash, I still end up getting surprised by it." he said trying to make a joke to lighten up the tension in this room.

"A-Are you forgetting the fact that Oma-kun basically injured one of our classmates?" remarked Tsumugi who was still shell-shocked from today's events. "I don't think my poor heart can handle another one of those near-death experiences after last night."

Shuichi sheepishly laughed and tried to butt in a comment of his own as well. "...I don't think Momota-kun's injury was that morbid, Shirogane-san."

"Yeah, Saihara-chan's right! He was just pinned by Kiibo's body! It's not like he was crushed by a hydraulic press or some boulder, right~?" Kokichi added with a childish beam of glee on his face.

"That's even worse! He would definitely die from that!" the blue-haired cosplayer shouted in a panicking voice.

Kaede slapped her forehead with her hand, seemingly annoyed by how quickly the mischievous supreme leader easily steered them all away from the questions that needed to be asked. "Look, we'll deal with this issue later. Right now, I'll excuse Harukawa-san from attendance since she volunteered to take care of Momota-kun's injuries."

The pianist then pulled out a notebook from her backpack and began to call out names to do her daily routine on checking everyone. Before she got to Gonta's name, Kokichi raised his voice to stop her for a bit. Kaede's annoyed expression came back as she turned to address whatever was on the supreme leader's mind. "What is it this time, Oma-kun?"

"Could you excuse Gonta and I for, say..." Kokichi looked at his nails in a manner that he was counting them instead of examining them in more detail. "...a whole day, Akamatsu-chan? Oh, and before you ask, it's something private that we agreed to discuss today; so don't go minding our business!"

Kaede narrowed her scrutinous gaze towards the possibly lying supreme leader before turning to ask Gonta if he really did agree to this in the first place. From her face, he could tell that she didn't trust Kokichi, so she turned to someone who is more trustworthy than him. What a typical reaction. Can't she just trust him as her "friend" for once?

"Is this true, Gonta-kun? Do the two of you really have something important to discuss today that you have to skip classes?" Kaede questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Huh? Gonta does not remember..." the gigantic entomologist replied. His expression quickly fell from scared to ashamed. "...sorry, Oma-kun."

Kokichi began to tear up again. It seems that in addition to being able to cry like a broken faucet that shoots water at your face, the reservoir replenishes almost instantaneously. "G-Gonta... How could you?! After all... we've been through together... UWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! HOW COULD YOU FORGET OUR PROMISE?! UWAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

The husky entomologist began to tear up as well. "Gonta sorry... but he really doesn't remember! Gonta swears as a gentleman!"

Gonta tried to comfort the crying Kokichi but the latter just cried even harder, like a baby who didn't get what they wanted or when they were suddenly awakened from a peaceful slumber.

There was one thing that was on the minds of their other classmates as they witnessed the scene before them. It looks as if it was directly ripped from a cartoon comedy but with all the animated special effects being reproduced down to a T. It was unbelievable. If it really were from a cartoon, they'd laugh, but this was undeniably real - not fictional, but real.

And it was _really_ stupid.

The whole class just groaned, sighed heavily, facepalmed or slammed their head down repeatedly on their desks from the overwhelming cringe that washed over them, with a few notable exceptions like Angie, Kiyo and Rantaro - who was just laughing as if he was already used to this or as if he had experience dealing with this childish behavior and was laughing at their misery of not knowing how to handle these kinds of situations. Both Kaede and Shuichi visibly looked as if they were just _done_ with this whole ordeal.

"Saihara-kun... Please handle this. I think I'm going to the clinic as well because this is giving me an aneurysm..." the pianist said with a hand held up against the top of her head. She immediately stormed out of the classroom, not even sparing an eye nor an ear for the stammering detective's pleading face and complaints.

Rantaro walked up to the poor detective's downtrodden state and patted his back to reassure him. "Don't worry. At least she trusts with you with her responsibility. I'm sure you can handle this one."

Shuichi unenthusiastically let out a sigh. "Yeah, I know..." he stated before turning to look at the childish Kokichi who was now throwing a temper tantrum across the room for such an idiotic reason. There was no Kaito, Maki nor Kaede to help him handle this hell spawn of a troublemaker.

"Today's gonna be a long day, huh..."

"That's putting it lightly, Amami-kun..."

"...Heh, guess you're right."

* * *

Kokichi let out a relieved sigh as he was finally outside the classroom with Gonta. Things didn't go as planned but he didn't mind. The others got their retribution by having to deal with his "grand" antics all day and all afternoon. From a clarion of airhorn sounds to a fake fire alarm that he timed to activate during lunchtime; they were all running around in panic like headless chickens who were trying to find their heads, and he enjoyed watching them all scream in terror from the sidelines, cackling maniacally like a madman who just went on a killing spree. The real knee slapper was the fact that nobody caught on to what he did since the smarter ones were busy or being disturbed by some of the loud knuckleheads who were shouting like they were in a protest or something. For a lousy bunch of Ultimates, these people were pretty stupid and disorganized but they were always there to provide a good laugh to the sadistic supreme leader just in case he ever got bored.

He was already getting impatient waiting for the chaos he would unleash upon Chiaki's party but he didn't want to get too hasty. This plan needed to be perfect in order for it to be worth it in the end and he still had to account for all avenues for failure. With luck added into the equation, there will always be a chance and an opportunity that his plan could go awry, and he had to account for every single one of them, if not, maybe only the major ones.

The David and Goliath duo made a pleasant promenade towards their very own designated meeting place, which was at that enclosed place that was going to be used for the Insect Exhibit. It was a stroke of good luck that this place was near the auditorium where the fated party was going to take place, and it was the opposite for the fools who think they can celebrate a party without the Ultimate Partier. As Kokichi was following Gonta towards that place, he thought of the many scenarios that could happen during the party. First thing that came to mind was his arrival. It doesn't take a genius to think that he would be up to no good when he appears. He already expected that some of them would attempt to drag him out of their party, or maybe even strangle him again like how Maki did; so entering through the main entrances would be thrown out of the choices immediately. He needed to pop up unexpectedly during the party and induce some scare factor among the Ultimates to immobilize them psychologically. He already thought of an idea of how to do that during his meeting with Nagito. His intel about the party venue and details were becoming extremely handy already. Kokichi had his white-haired accomplice handle some of the extra work that made the improved plan impossible to carry out with one person. How he would handle that was a complete mystery to him; although, the cunning supreme leader had a few hunches. Eh, it doesn't matter anyways. Just in case the other failed to account for his own failures, he could always improvise on the spot by hijacking the lighting and sound system. Those were just additions for the scare factor of his entrance. It's a good thing he asked Miu to invent those disruptors that he was planning to use on Kiibo on the day of their own party as payment for assisting her in her questionable inventions. He will admit that the vulgar blondie had some golden brain cells in that noggin of hers...

...Golden and dirty like salty piss, that is. Well, at least he can have someone take the fall if he gets found out for the disruptors.

Second thing that was on the agenda was how he was going to knock everyone out. He already decided on a modified version of the laughing gas since the normal formula wouldn't be enough to knock them out. How he came up with the new formula was during a heist that he and his squad participated in prior to being scouted for Hope's Peak. Those were some pretty good times, indeed. He remembered that he still had the blueprints for it from that memorable heist in his room somewhere. The laughing gas, to his memory, wasn't that complex nor expensive to recreate. With this in mind, the supreme leader decided to spend the rest of his time making the gas after this.

On second thought, maybe he should bring Gonta along to shorten his workload.

Now that the gas itself has been taken care of, the problem of how he was going to administer it arises. Kokichi considered throwing gas grenades like how he did during that heist but he had to admit that it was getting repetitive. He chalked those off as a last resort if he couldn't find a way to release those gases, although that would be seriously doubtful. How could someone as cunning as he is fail to think of an innovative way to gas those guys? The auditorium wasn't a concentration camp that specializes in "gassing" or anything, so he had to be creative if he were to abandon the grenade idea.

Perhaps Kokichi wasn't that far off when comparing the auditorium to a concentration camp...

Sure, it was a very morbid and cruel joke to think that, but Kokichi wasn't going to cause mindless and discriminate genocide, right? That would already be a joke in poor taste if that were the case, and his tastes were akin to a world-renowned food critic for a five-star restaurant.

But boy was he so thankful to take some time and effort into paying attention to those boring lectures. Looks like taking up world history had some merits to this villainous scheme of his.

Not that he was planning to become a power-hungry tyrant in the not-so-distant dystopian future or anything...

Nope, he was planning nothing of the sort. Nada. Perish the thought.

Moving on, there's one more issue that needed to be considered - the Insect Exhibit itself. After the knocked out victims would wake up from the laughing gas, their first instinct would be to get the hell out of that place. Of course, when one sees a horde of insects surrounding them, it would be common sense to run as far away from them as possible unless they all wanted a million creepy crawlies over their bodies, which is highly unlikely to happen no matter how weird Chiaki's friends were. They needed to be restrained and locked from the outside and only Gonta has the key to the only entrance and exit to that place. Which means, he needed to be outside once the show began. No matter how much Kokichi wanted to see them scurry around much like the insects they're running away from, he needed to be outside because honestly, who else in the world would want those disgusting cretins all over their body parts and junk? Obviously, he didn't want that if it meant that he gets to be all close and personal on their terrified faces. Luckily for him, he had a means of resolving that. He was already planning to put up a hidden video recorder, complete with audio recording, to film the fruits of his labor. Which is why he brought it with him in the first place, duh.

Now that all possible means of escape have been accounted for, all that's left for now is how he was going to restrain the all 16 of them. Well, why not go for the old-fashioned way and bind them in groups of two or three with some strong and sturdy rope? He could always ask some fro-

 _"Oh wait, there's still the issue of Nekomaru's superhuman strength and Gundham's hamsters destroying that rope. Dang it."_

Actually, now that he thought long and hard about it, would it even matter if they were able to get out of their restraints? They were strong, sure, but they wouldn't be able to break free from the rope instantly; at the very least, they wouldn't be able to until he said what he wanted to say to them. Even if they did break free eventually once he leaves the area, there was always Chiaki or Peko to make sure that the violent members of their group don't hurt the big guy. He knows that they would accuse the evil supreme leader for using Gonta's gullibility to his advantage, so why would they think it was justified to hurt another fellow victim? Besides, he was planning on having his gigantic captor untie them from the rope once he was ready for the nightmarish exhibit to start and the supreme leader would be safe and sound.

As for Kokichi's script...

Well, why not just do it impromptu? It was much more fun and interesting that way. The _evil_ supreme leader had no need for some lame script to guide him on how to be evil to the fools in the first place.

It just comes naturally...

They already despise him anyways so why not just listen to the little devil that's speaking to you for once?

This is what they get for not taking his words seriously. It's all the same, really. They didn't believe him when he says that he is an evil person and they all get blindsided once he decides to act despite all the warnings he put up.

 _"Guess that's what I get for being a liar all the time, huh?"_ Kokichi thought aloud to himself with a distant expression on his face, yet Gonta didn't hear him. Good.

It's human nature to believe that there's good in one's heart, but it's human folly to make themselves vulnerable to the lies that mask that so called "good" in one's heart.

Maybe this plan would serve as a lesson to those ignorant people who think they can be friends while pretending that their "friends" didn't have secrets with them...

He had to hand it to Nagito for making his life so much easier. Those secrets would actually play a big role in this party and he didn't even realize it.

 _"What an idiot!"_

Kokichi started to laugh a little from the dramatic irony of the situation at hand. He half-expected Nagito to catch on about what he was planning for the party. In fact, the white-haired boy came dangerously close by questioning if he was going to use these secrets as blackmail, but since the question was too general - not targeting anything specific at all, Kokichi was able to call his bluff and bat the question away with ease. The cunning lucky student was playing it safe and thought that with his luck, he could gather more details about what he was planning? That was unsurprisingly transparent of him. Kokichi had experience in these types of games and the other didn't. Nagito had moxie, but he can never be as sophistic as Kokichi.

That laughter gradually became loud enough for Gonta to hear but that didn't matter right now since they already arrived at their destination. Kokichi threw his arms high into the air and put on the best "smile" he could manage.

"Okay, Gonta! So here's what's gonna happen..."

* * *

Nighttime rolled in eventually like how a pachinko ball was destined to fall into one of the slots, guided by the protrusions of the machine's mainframe. Today was an incredibly long day filled with dastardly pranks and the usual hijinks in the daily life of Kokichi Oma and right now, he wanted some well-deserved RR for tomorrow.

Which would be the day when his masterpiece of a plan would finally come into motion.

He had everything prepared by now: Nagito and Gonta's cooperation, blackmail material, information about Chiaki's party, the laughing gas, the disruptors, a custom made gas mask that he got from his secret organization, some rope, and some extra stuff to help liven up the party.

Now that he thought about what he's doing right now, he put some gosh darned effort into this plan, didn't he? Even more so than their very own party. It was a cruel twist of fate, that's for sure. Was that why Kaede was asking for his opinion for the party the other day? If that was indeed the case, she must either be incredibly stupid or unsurprisingly confident to think that whatever idea that comes out of the devious leader's brain is considered a "great" idea for the party. Considering his track record, she should've just avoided taking any advice from him.

Well, either way, Kokichi will always find a way to convince their class rep to give in to his "great" ideas. He, too, had the charisma to compete against hers, only that his was the charisma of an evil supreme leader and hers was just the charisma of an optimistic pianist. It was a one-sided competition if he had to put it lightly.

If he goes through with this plan, there's no mistaking that he'll get reprimanded and punished severely by his schoolmates, but did that matter to Kokichi at all? Heck no. He likes to live life dangerously, taking every life-threatening opportunity by the horns and milking all the delicious thrills and excitement he could get from it. Anyone who walked a mile in his shoes would definitely agree with him that this daredevil lifestyle is more interesting than anyone else's. No matter how many times they would try to restrict him, he will always, **always** , find a way to come in like a gigantic wrecking ball to obliterate any sense of peace and harmony their meager efforts could forge.

Kokichi went inside his room - this time, remembering to lock the door - and pulled out a dossier that was titled "Nanami-chan's Minions" under the mattress of his bed. He decided it would be a good idea to update the specifics of the information he gathered about them before going to sleep. He mindlessly fumbled through the many pockets of his suit and fished out a box of crayons then began to scribble all over the files in the dossier.

An all-too-familiar smirk began to stretch and distort his face again. It was a good thing everyone was spared from the horrendous look on the supreme leader's face right now.

"Nishishi... I can't wait for tomorrow!"

* * *

A/N: Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	4. Executing pt 1

A/N: Wowie! Another long chapter!

* * *

" **RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...** "

What a great start to a great day! Why wake up to the sound of chirping birds and the oppressive heat of the sun when you can have a middle-aged man let out a blood-curdling screech right next to your ear? It was a great wake-up call to kick off the start of a great day and a harbinger to an even greater night!

Kokichi would never forget what would happen today. If he did, then he should just quit being an evil supreme leader and slave his future away at some random factory that was destined to go bankrupt and be abandoned. Or better yet, he should just drop out of Hope's Peak and work as a garbage collector to strive for minimum wage. Yeah, it would be _that_ shameful if his brain didn't remind him of the party tonight. If he let a brain fart like that slip by, then what was the point of his Ultimate title in the first place? A joke? A lie? Pshh, as if. The self-proclaimed Prince Of Liars's title isn't a lie.

Kokichi didn't waste any time beating around the bush and immediately went ahead to freshen himself up for today. There were some things that needed to be taken care of today before Chiaki's group starts preparing the venue for their party. Nagito told him that they were going to start as soon as their morning period ended, so he had about three to four hours to set up the stage for his very own party. Time was of the essence for Kokichi.

He packed the lighter stuff he had prepared yesterday in his backpack and exited his room, intentionally forgetting to slam dunk his hand on the screaming alarm clock. He locked the door to make sure that the noise would be trapped in there so no one could enter and silence it. It was also intended to divert attention away from him. Hooray for the supreme leader's brain for thinking that up on the fly.

After the scream began to die down from his proximity to the room, Kokichi blocked off all his other senses and concentrated on how he was going to initiate his game plan.

First, he had to make sure that the laughing gas would be loaded.

Second, he had to test the disruptors on the lighting and sound system.

Third, he had to ascertain his "secret" entrance to the party i.e. find a good hiding spot in the backstage near the fuse breakers so he can reset them just in case Nagito's luck decides to ruin his plan.

Fourth, he had to study the layout of the venue and predict how they would all be positioned and with whom they would choose to seat beside, for counteractive measures and to maximize the time he had once the gas kicked in.

And lastly, he had to set up his many contraptions needed to make his grand entrance. He already brainstormed enough ideas yesterday so all that's left is to set them up and hide them away from the watchful eyes of "Nanami-chan's Minions".

 _"Perfect."_ A crescent moon smile shone on his face as he ran off to the auditorium to kickstart the early stages of his scheme.

He hoped that no one else would notice him heading there. He had to be quick and stealthy, otherwise he'll be suspicious and it would ruin the surprise if they decided to tail him.

Guess it was time to rely on Atua's guidance or whatever deity was there to make sure that his luck was up to par.

* * *

"Oh, for crying out loud, can someone shut the damn thing off?!" an angry Fuyuhiko mouthed off while approaching the other annoyed Ultimates who were trying to get the door to Kokichi's room to conveniently open for them. "Oi, Soda! Aren't you a mechanic? Can't you disassemble this door or whatever?"

"Huh? Oh yeah! I can-"

"Tampering with school property is against the school regulations!" Taka quickly reprimanded. "We must first practice good morals and beckon Oma-kun to awaken from-"

"Are you still gonna be such a goddamn hardass, bro?! He ain't waking up if it means it'll piss us off!"

"That is true... However! We must-"

The two arguing men were interrupted by the sounds of multiple frantic footsteps that were drawing near them.

"Halt! Running in the-"

"Argh! Will you just shut up already?! This is the third time this week that this little piece of shit decided to mess with me! That's it! I'm sending him to the fucking clinic right now!" Kaito shoved the other angry Ultimates away from his path and decided to kick the door down multiple times but to no avail yet again. "GODDAMN IT, OMA! OPEN UP SO I CAN MAKE YOU SCREAM LIKE THAT DAMN ALARM CLOCK!"

"Momota-kun! You must control your anger or you might violate the school's precious rules! If you continue this unwarranted aggression towards school property, I will report you to the proper authorities!" Taka enunciated with a firm and strong voice while helping the other Ultimates in prying the astronaut away from the door. Even with all these other stronger men holding him back, his rage never faded and so did his fighting power.

The others started to pooling in near Kokichi's room to the point where every last male Ultimate except the perpetrator was standing near that singular door that was housing the loud intense screaming. They all began shouting and asking rapid fire questions about this chaotic situation that was unfolding before them.

There were other people too who wanted to sneak in a punch or two on the barricaded door, like Nekomaru who complained that he can't take a shit in peace with the sound of an intense roar for battle. The others most likely assumed that he thought a fight was breaking out so he postponed his defecation session to spectate the match.

While this was happening, most of Kokichi's classmates just stood along the edges with the same cringed expressions on their faces while the others who weren't used to the mischievous little brat's antics were panicking and confused from all the rage and shouting for the screaming to stop.

Snippets of conversation about this absurd occurrence were being held up from the sidelines as they observed the other uninterested Ultimates leave the vicinity.

"So this was what got you frantic, Naegi? Hmph, I'll be taking my leave now. I have better things to do with my precious time."

"Togami-kun, wait!"

"Well well well! This is _quite_ an interesting _display_ if I do say so myself. Excuse me, my dear friends, and let the chef handle _all_ the heat and sweat!"

"Ugh, how disgusting. I'm leaving as well."

"This is indeed interesting, like how Hanamura-kun describes it. Ah, what a beautiful showcase of humanity's art!"

"Creating chaos as a stepping stone for the other Ultimates' abilities to shine... As expected of Oma-kun's wonderful talent!"

"And there he goes. Rambling on and on about hope and talent and some other bullcrap that comes out of his mouth... You know what? Screw this! I'm going to class. Seriously, you all are a bunch of weird dumbasses."

The chatter didn't dial down one bit as more and more people started to give up on trying to get the alarm clock to stop. The two Byakuyas left first in disgust of the situation then followed by Fuyuhiko and Teruteru after quickly losing interest. The others who walked in on the scene started to leave as well. There was nothing they could do to stop the noisy alarm clock and just left it at that. After a while, the ones who remained were Makoto, Shuichi, Rantaro and Nagito who were all thinking about how quickly this problem escalated and fell.

"This is awkward..." said Makoto who was rubbing his chin sheepishly in light of this situation.

"Well, any brilliant deductions Saihara-kun?" Everyone turned to look at Nagito's happy and celebratory expression as he addressed the Ultimate Detective. "What would the Ultimate Detective make light of this dilemma?"

Shuichi covered his mouth with his hand as he observed and examined the situation like any detective worth their salt would. He was silent for a brief moment, opting not to speak so he can focus on making deductions. "Considering what we know of Oma-kun, this is most likely an attempt to divert attention away from him."

"I see," Rantaro nodded thoughtfully to that deduction. "Well, it sort of makes sense, doesn't it? We all were drawn to that alarm clock. I don't believe that he would've let that play out without some hidden motive."

"Or," Nagito refuted. "He could be doing this just because he felt like it."

"Although I agree with Komaeda-kun's assumption," Shuichi added. "Let's not forget that most of Oma-kun's actions have ulterior motives. He has been acting strange as of late. I suspect that he might be planning something big."

"Well, you aren't that far off with your deductions, Saihara-kun." the white-haired boy happily replied. "After all, I just so happened to see Oma-kun heading towards the exit before I came here!"

Shuichi kept quiet while Makoto questioned Nagito. "Wait, you saw him? Why didn't you tell us anything beforehand?! It would've saved us a lot of trouble if you did!"

The detective seemed like he had something to say about the matter but he still stayed silent and merely observed Nagito's words and actions. Nagito didn't seem to mind the other who was eyeing him and continued the conversation with a dry laugh. "Ah, honestly, who would believe every word that comes out of my mouth? Even Saihara-kun here doubts my witness account."

"That's because he's a detective." Rantaro replied with a very observant look in his eyes. "Isn't it his job to be suspicious and give doubt to every detail he observes?" He looked over to Shuichi, who still had something in his mind. He shifted his gaze back towards the lucky student and continued. "But if I were to be honest, I would have doubted that you even saw Oma. You're not exactly a trustworthy person, either. You're the type of person who would gladly become an accomplice to a criminal if it means that you get to see them succeed, aren't you?" he finished with a dark and suspicious expression towards Nagito.

The white-haired boy smiled awkwardly at the accusation and raised his hands in defeat. "A brilliant observation, Amami-kun! Although, you could have phrased that a bit differently so I wouldn't seem like an evil person; not that I think you're wrong or anything. My whole being is comprised of vile trash and filthy garbage. It wouldn't be wrong to see me through a negative lens."

Rantaro gave one last look of scrutiny and let out a tired sigh. "That's a shame. We'll be going around in circles if we continue this conversation any longer." He turned his back towards the other Ultimates and gestured for Shuichi who seemed to be spacing out. "Come on, let's get going, Saihara-kun. Wouldn't want to hear Akamatsu-san screaming at your ear now would you? Unless you're into that kind of stuff, then I won't judge." he stated airily.

Shuichi perked his head up and became flustered all of a sudden. "Ah, n-no! If that's what you're thinking, then you're wrong!" he quickly shot back at the chuckling Rantaro.

"I'm just joking. Lighten up, will you?"

As the two moved further away from their range of vision, Nagito spoke up. "What do _you_ think, Naegi-kun?"

Makoto was surprised by his sudden question. "H-Huh? What do you mean, Komaeda-kun?"

"Do you think I saw Oma-kun?"

The other lucky student thought about his words for several seconds. Afterwards, he looked Nagito straight in the eye, providing a tone of seriousness to his next words. "...I don't think you were lying if that's what you're implying."

Nagito's lips gave a wry smile to Makoto's answer. "That's one way to look at it." The white-haired boy tugged at the sides of his unkempt oversized hoodie and cleared his throat. "Well! This is where we must part ways, Naegi-kun. Bye now." He waved at the shorter lucky student. Makoto quickly returned the wave and went their separate ways.

* * *

While the unseen chaos was ensuing at the dorms, Kokichi finished his preparations and ran all over the auditorium to check if everything was at their proper places. He pulled out a clipboard that he happened to stumble upon on top of an instrument case while he was setting up the stage and another box of crayons from his suit that can somehow hold a lot of stuff without anyone noticing. He gave a quick once-over to the front page of the clipboard before ripping it off mercilessly and shoving it in his pocket. He thought of littering in the auditorium but he had to hide any evidence that points to him being here.

Come on, what other reason did he have for hiding the preparations he made aside from trying to hide the fact that he "tampered with the crime scene"? It'd be counter-productive if he littered in the auditorium just for a rebellious prank. Ok, maybe it was a long shot to infer that he was here just from a random scrap of paper, but he had to be extra careful. That's what any other evil supreme leader would do, right? Great criminals know how to hide their tracks.

After an unnecessarily long thinking time of whether to litter in the auditorium or not, Kokichi pulled out an indigo crayon, which was his favorite color, from the box and wrote some words that seem to resemble chicken scratch rather than actual symbols. The supreme leader simply brushed it off as his own original language since he's the only one who would understand it. He then returned the box of crayons in his pocket.

While Kokichi was still writing random stuff on the clipboard, he mindlessly wandered around the auditorium and sneaked in some brief looks on his surroundings, taking note of its appearance and the important details, like the placement of those duralumin cases, where the chairs and tables were being stored, how much the light would cover if they were switched on, and etc. Kokichi then arrived at the door to a small makeshift warehouse situated at the far corner of auditorium. With his curiosity piqued, he kicked the door open and immediately slammed his hand at the switch, which was at his right. The lights of the warehouse flickered on and revealed towers of cardboard boxes stacked upon each other. He took note of how bad it would be if someone were to turn off the lights and close the door behind him, but given the size of the warehouse, it wouldn't be that frightening if one knows where their bearings are.

He paused his scribbling of gibberish symbols on the piece of paper and darted his eyes around the warehouse. Dust mites speckled everywhere, meaning that the others haven't paid that much attention to its cleanliness. Beside the numerous cardboard boxes were a number of Monobloc chairs and party tables huddled tightly together to make room for the other stuff inside the warehouse. Kokichi assumed that those were the chairs and tables that would be used for the party so he immediately ignored them. He noticed that there were some large tablecloths that were neatly folded and stacked on one of the shelves' rows. They were plain white, so again, not particularly interesting enough to take note of.

"*sigh* Man, this is getting super boring..." he murmured to himself as he decided that it would be more interesting to examine the multiple piles of cardboard boxes... which were freaking empty. Wow, for a warehouse, this was the most boring one he's ever been in. All the other warehouses the supreme leader "visited" held more interesting things in them like supercars, laser gun prototypes, unlimited Panta dispensers, and even toilet seats that were overall less boring than this shady-looking room.

Kokichi angrily kicked one of the boxes in frustration but to his surprise, the box that he kicked wasn't as empty as the others. He carefully pulled out that box with excitement hidden behind his eyes. It was like he got a super early Christmas present for his birthday. What he found inside the box was EXACTLY what he needed for his plan to work. Inside the box were two medium-sized black smoke machines. He then pulled out another box which wasn't empty as well and found another pair of the same smoke machines. Score! If strategically placed, four of these would be enough to fill up the whole auditorium, or at least enough to let everyone take a whiff of the laughing gas.

If memory serves him right, Ibuki will be using these smoke machines for her concert. That would mean that Kokichi had to crash the party before that started so she wouldn't activate the smoke machines by mistake. Unless...

Kokichi pulled out two more boxes that were adjacent to where the boxes of the smoke machines originally were. If the things that were inside these boxes were exactly what he assumed them to be, the plan could go smoother. He opened them and found a confetti machine in each box. Perfect. Two were enough to disguise the two smoke machines that Ibuki needed for her concert, considering that the lively musician will be using a lot of pyrotechnics. Those idiots would think that the "confetti" was all part of the theatrics and Kokichi expected Ibuki to just go with the flow. He would replace the two smoke machines on stage with the confetti machines and then he would hide the remaining tampered smoke machines in a manner where the area they cover are spread evenly. Two would be placed by the entrances and another two would be placed in front of the stage, boxing in the victims with its noxious fumes. Escape will be impossible with this strategy. One important thing to note is that everyone must at least inhale the gas for about ten to thirty seconds for it to take effect, meaning air ventilation had to be disabled by the time he makes his entrance.

Kokichi took out the laughing gas and loaded it as ammunition for the smoke machines. Setting those aside in their respective places, he turned to the confetti machines and replaced the colored paper shreds with tiny firecrackers that looked like confetti because why not? That way, once the machines activated, they would dispense a volley of firecrackers towards the others which would crackle once they hit the ground. Since it's not paper, the explosives would travel further and might land on some of the food. But who cares about the food anyway?!

Not to worry however, those firecrackers aren't enough to cause major injuries or burns. The _real_ stuff that would pack a bigger punch are out there, waiting to be set up.

Kokichi then picked up the two boxes containing the smoke machines and brought them outside the warehouse. He figured that he had nothing else to do inside the warehouse. The confetti machines were already tampered with so he proceeded to place the smoke machines by the entrances.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw someone he did NOT expect to see at this time whistling some catchy tune by the entrance with their hands on their pockets. Kokichi suddenly dropped the boxes from shock, making a loud crashing thud on the waxed floor which made that person in the oversized green hoodie turn towards the supreme leader.

"Ah, Komaeda-chan! What a surprise! I didn't expect to see you here." Kokichi immediately yelled to mask the shocked features of his face. Nagito approached the other creepily with a perverted smile on his face. How unsettling...

"Looks like I caught you in the middle of the act, Oma-kun."

"Aww, man..." the supreme leader sighed in mock disappointment. "I was _totally_ planning a surprise pre-party for you guys but it looks like I got caught. Well! Lucky for you, I have a _surprise_ just for my most trusted ally!"

Nagito cautiously looked at the other with mild alertness. "What for? Why does someone like me deserve a surprise from you?"

"Well, since you walked in on me preparing for this surprise pre-party," Kokichi paused for a while and transformed his childlike face into a malicious and sadistic grin while pulling out a 45-caliber revolver from one of his pockets, cocking the gun and pointing the barrel towards the other.

"... _ **I'm afraid you must die, Komaeda-chan.**_ "

Nagito turned his gaze towards the large revolver in his hand and simply examined it with an apathetic expression on his face. The two opted to stay quiet in their standoff of sorts, with the smirking Kokichi pointing the large revolver at Nagito in an overly dramatic manner. Even with the peaceful silence enveloping the massive auditorium, the tension in the atmosphere was so thick from their mental warfare that somebody could cut it with a knife. The white-haired boy's lips curved into an all-knowing grin, as if he was unthreatened by the supreme leader's sudden death threat, and opened his mouth to talk.

"Are you testing my luck, Oma-kun?"

"That's quite perceptive of you." Kokichi said with rare actual praise added to his words and expression. "Well, why not? This could get interesting..."

Kokichi unloaded five bullets from the revolver and loaded four different bullets into its chamber. He then spun the cylinder, cocked the gun again and aimed it at Nagito. "Let's play a different version of Russian Roulette, shall we?" His voice became deep and hushed to become creepily intimidating but the childish excitement behind that tone wasn't hidden well enough.

"Ah, I've never played Russian Roulette before. Could you tell me how to play it?"

"Huh? That's strange. If you knew what I was going to do, then you should _definitely_ know how to play this game. Unless, that's a lie, but I doubt it."

"I never said that I knew that you were going to make me play Russian Roulette, didn't I?"

"Touché, Komaeda-chan." Kokichi started to play with the large revolver, twirling the gun around his finger and tossing it like how those western cowboys do it. "Well, the game's simple," the supreme leader began to demonstrate how to play the game. "Load 6-x bullets; where x is less than six but greater than zero, into the gun, spin the chamber, point it to your head and then BANG! You either die or you survive the round. Last one standing wins."

He continued. "This version, however, is different. Instead, _I_ point the gun to _your_ stinky head and _you_ have to guess if the next shot is a real bullet, a blank or unloaded. I put three real bullets, one blank and one empty slot. Simple, ya?"

"Haha, I understand, even without the algebraic expressions. But I must ask, what happens if I guess it wrong?"

"Of course you die, silly! Didn't you pay any attention to the rules at all?"

"I mean, what happens if the next shot is a blank or unloaded but I guessed it wrong?"

"Hmmm... Never thought about that actually. Just kidding! I'll still kill you if you guessed it wrong."

Nagito paused the back-and-forth with the supreme leader and thought deeply about something. What? Kokichi wasn't some psychic who could read the minds of other people, much less read the mind of _this_ demented psychopath. And yes, his description needed to be redundant to even come close to an accurate description of the white-haired boy. He expected Nagito to dodge the offer in the first place by telling him that committing murder in this academy is a grave mistake when one of the detectives who would investigate this case was an actual legend who specializes in homicides.

Like always, Nagito surpassed all expectations. He should have predicted the lucky student's unpredictability. Nagito gave a wry smile and challenged Kokichi in this modified Russian Roulette. "Very well. I accept your challenge. Unloaded."

"Nishishi... Are you suuuuuuureee?~" the supreme leader drew out the last word in an attempt to dissuade Nagito's determined look. "Why not settle for the safer option? If you say that the next shot will be a real bullet, you have a 2/3 chance in guessing it right! Much larger than a measly 1/6 chance, right?~"

"They don't call me the Ultimate Lucky Student for just winning the school lottery, you know..."

"Pffffff-wAHAHAHAHA!!!" Kokichi began to laugh uncontrollably at Nagito's last remark. "Was that a joke, Komaeda-chan?! Cause... that was the... best one I've heard from you yet... and that's not even a lie!!" he managed to say between his fits of laughter. The "joke" was too funny for him that actual tears were falling from his eyes already.

Kokichi finally managed to contain that laughter that was totally not induced by the laughing gas and switched his current expression to something akin to a malicious little devil smirking at the other, pointing the loaded revolver at him menacingly. "What's your Ultimate Luck gonna do against a rigged game, Komaeda-chan? Have you already forgotten who I am and what I'm capable of?"

"I'm willing to bet my life that that's a lie." Nagito replied in a more serious tone.

Kokichi, on the other hand, wasn't taking him seriously. "It's not too late to back down. This is your last-"

"Unloaded."

"Are you suuuuuuureee?~"

"Unloaded."

"Are you reeeeally suuuuuuuuuureeeee?~"

"Unloaded."

"Are you really reeeeeeeeeeally suuuuuuu-"

"You're wasting your own time by keeping this up, Oma-kun. Aren't you trying to hide your surprise for the party from the others?"

"Phoooey, boy you're no fun," Kokichi muttered under his breath in an insulting manner. "Well! It's your funeral..."

He pulled the trigger of the revolver which made a resounding click. The chamber spun once, telling the two that the shot was unloaded.

"Awwww man. Your guess was right on the money..." Kokichi sighed in an extremely turned off manner and continued. "...Looks like you get to live another day, Komaeda-chan!" The supreme leader then returned the revolver to its original place and switched back to his childlike behavior and mannerisms.

"...Just as I thought. You weren't planning on playing your own round, were you?" Nagito pointed out as if he made a smart discovery.

"Nishishi... The Ultimate Supreme Leader likes to play dirty, if you catch my drift." the other remarked in a smug tone. "Since you knew that you were going to survive this round, I take it that you're going to run off and rat me out to the others? Now _that's_ playing dirty!"

"Of course not! I could never dream of impeding your plans to make your hope shine brighter! I would gladly help you achieve your goals, Oma-kun... Ah, that is, if you want to accept my offer."

Kokichi examined the exuberant expression on Nagito's face for a while. He didn't want to rely on the happy-go-lucky boy too much. He already gave him enough work right now and giving more would increase the number of uncontrolled variables to show up unexpectedly. Not to mention, Nagito's ideas would be quite different from his. In fact, he could totally see the other scrapping his idea for the Insect Exhibit in exchange of a death game of sorts. The supreme leader had to admit that the death game would be fine since he already has blackmail material that he can use to manipulate them, but the only problem is he didn't want that. He preferred a slow-burn kind of plan - make sure to break their mind and body slowly to squeeze out all the juicy kicks he can get out of it. Death and murder would be too fast for him.

"Hmmm, how about you distract the others from my plans for a while? I'm pretty busy and I might take a while..."

"I can do that," Nagito then gestured his head towards the two smoke machines on the floor. "But I'm not sure if you would be able to transport those machines without them noticing once they do arrive here for the preparations. Why not rely on me instead to move those?"

"Oh yeaaahhh... that's a good point..." Kokichi put his finger on his chin pensively. "I guess there's no avoiding it. Ok then! I'll entrust you with this _very important_ task and if you fail," he looked at the white-haired boy with a menacing expression in his eyes. "I'll make sure Nanami-chan's punishment for you would be _**way**_ worse than it already is. Got it?"

Nagito gave another calm smile towards the evil smile of the other. "Using her words against me, huh... I'll do my best to not let you down then."

"Alrighty then! So here's how this is all gonna play out.."

Kokichi began to explain to Nagito the details on how he was going to crash this party. He lied about some details, like the laughing gas, by saying that he was going to use the smoke to create dramatic effect for his entrance. It was half-lie and half-truth. He planned on making a dramatic entrance but the gas would not be involved only after he made his entrance. The real dramatic effect came from the additional pyrotechnics that Kokichi had set up. He just had to wait for Nagito's signal and then he would figuratively and literally kick Ibuki off the stage for his grand entrance, maybe.

"...And that's about it for now!" Kokichi finished with a wide beam on his face. "Wait! Wait wait wait. Almost forgot. Bring me my lunch once you get here. Tell the chef to make "the supreme leader's usual", pretty please?~"

"If that's all, then I can do that while the others are busy. However..."

"You're _still_ having doubts about this, Komaeda-chan? Just trust me! You'll get that sweet hope of yours once this plan succeeds. Which is why I asked you to give me that juicy intel!"

Nagito's face still looked deep in thought. One look at that face and Kokichi was able to tell that he was trying to make sense of the plan he just told him, unraveling the lies the supreme leader added to it. Nagito eventually gave up in trying to figure out his plan. "I suppose I can't really tell if you're lying or not even with my luck. I don't see how all these connect to your ultimate agenda, Oma-kun."

"As I have said before, you really shouldn't try to question or predict what I do, Komaeda-chan. Knowing too much can sometimes lead to your _**demise**_ , you know? So why not relax and observe how a _real_ Ultimate does their stuff instead? Also, shouldn't you be in class right now? Nanami-chan might come and ruin everything thanks to your tardiness."

"Ah, I almost forgot. I should have known better than to question an Ultimate. Please forgive my prideful behavior."

"Nishishi... Better get going then, Komaeda-chan..."

With that threat, Nagito turned his back and waved goodbye towards Kokichi. After he exited the auditorium, the supreme leader let out a sigh and continued back to whatever he was doing. Which was what now? Right. He still had to set up those contraptions, test those disruptors and secure his hiding place.

"Hoooo boy, this is gonna take a while. Sorry in advance, class rep. I'll be busy..."

Kokichi stretched his face with one last grin before he sprinted around the auditorium once more.

* * *

 _*ding dong dong ding_ *

As soon as that creepy-sounding ringtone resounded through the school's PA system, the dreary depressed tone inside the classroom suddenly livened up, including the teacher who just wanted out of this school simulation of sorts. Everyone started shouting in celebration and excitement - their moods doing a complete 180, or was it an upgrade? Whatever it was, everyone was excited for the party and they have a whole afternoon to prepare for it.

"HELL YEAH! IT'S PARTY TIME SO THAT MEANS IT'S TIME TO EAT!!!"

"B-But the p-party doesn't start u-until tonight!"

"Can't you read the mood pig barf?! She's not gonna get excited if you don't bait this brainlet with food!"

They all shouted different things with many others making additional remarks or comments, but the message was apparent.

They were all really excited.

"Wakey-wakey, Chiaki-chan! It's time to make the best party everrrr!" Ibuki shouted while trying to shake the sleeping gamer to wake her up.

Chiaki eventually woke up while rubbing the crust that formed on her eyelashes and the drool that dripped from her mouth. The classroom was spinning and she felt like she was about to throw up. That was the worst alarm clock that ever woke her up, she thinks.

"You can go ahead, Mioda-san. I'm going to the restroom. I... feel like throwing up for a bit... I think."

"No can do, ma'am! Ibuki must make sure Chiaki-chan does not fall asleep on the way, so I'll wait by the door!" Ibuki yelled while saluting to Chiaki.

Chiaki simply shrugged and wobbled towards the girls' restroom while being supported by the musician's energetic figure. She didn't bring a paper bag with her, so she settled on vomiting in the toilet bowl instead. She hunched over, trying to release any of the fluids her nausea threatened to release. None came out. It was like she was trying to regurgitate something that didn't exist in the first place. How frustrating. Chiaki was becoming jealous of how Yoshi can eat and spit out shells but she can't release whatever's on her throat.

After multiple attempts, she was tired and heavily breathing for air. It only occurred to her now that she skipped dinner and breakfast in favor of pulling an all-nighter marathoning all the Rhythm Heaven installments. She skipped breakfast since she was already late for class by a small margin. She wasn't able to walk to the academy with Nagito, much to her dismay, but she somehow arrived earlier than him, after which he arrived just a moment later. Chiaki apologized to Nagito for being late but he said that he didn't mind since he wouldn't have been able to meet with her due to a *little* problem at their dorms that caused a bit of traffic.

While Chiaki was still trying to recover from the dizziness, a knock on the stall she was in and the sounds of quiet whimpering were heard. Must be Ibuki and... _who was the one sobbing quietly?_

"Chiaki-chaaaaan~! Ibuki's getting worried about you so I kinda dragged Mikan-chan over here..."

 _That answers that, I guess._

"A-Are you okay in there, Nanami-san?" Mikan asked with a shaky voice

If Chiaki wanted to be honest, she will admit that her food meter was getting critically low and that she needed to eat right now despite the fact that she might throw it all up later. So yeah, she wasn't very okay right now. Ibuki must have felt guilty about making the sleepy gamer feel disoriented with her energetic shaking so maybe that's why she brought Mikan to check up on her. She didn't blame the energetic musician. She's sure that she was only trying to spread her energy towards her.

She tried to stand up by grabbing the tissue holder as a support for pushing her up and replied to Mikan's question. "I-I'm fine now... I think." Chiaki unlocked the door to and tried to walk out. Her sense of direction was still kind of fuzzy right now so she stumbled a bit and face planted on something soft and pillowy. The softness was so soothing that it lulled her right back to sleep...

...If not for the shriek that followed after.

"Kyaaaaaaaah! N-N-Nanami-san?!"

"Ehhhhh?! Chiaki-chan fell asleep on Mikan-chan's boobs?!"

The two loud voices near her ear made Chiaki instantly jolt her body back into some semblance of an upright position. That only made her vision spin around a lot faster. _On second thought, that wasn't such a good idea... maybe._

Chiaki put every effort to recalibrate her settings since she can't play her video games if everything was spinning around her. She held on to the sink with both her hands and tried to look at her own reflection in the mirror. After a minute of trying to stand still and refocusing her vision, she felt a lot better and a lot less dizzier now.

Letting out a relieved exhale, she turned towards the two and reassured them. "...Sorry about earlier, Tsumiki-san. It seems that I wasn't that fine yet. I am now."

Mikan's face became as pink as Kirby's natural color and she began to weep again. "Uguuuu... P-Please erase that m-m-memory from your head."

Ibuki was back to her lively self and added some comments of her own. "Teeheehee, Mikan-chan looks so cute when she's all flustered like that! But Ibuki didn't know that Chiaki-chan likes to swing the other way!"

"It's true that I like to swing in any direction, but I wasn't holding any weapon... I guess." Chiaki replied, unsure of what Ibuki meant by "swinging the other way".

"Awww, you didn't get it..." The positive bundle of energy diminished for a while before firing herself up again. "Well, forget it! I'll tell you about it soon. Let's hang out at the cafeteria for a while; Ibuki wants to share her lunch with both Chiaki-chan and Mikan-chan!"

Both Chiaki and Mikan wanted to decline the kind gesture since they already had theirs prepared but it was clear that Ibuki wasn't taking no for an answer by pulling them along forcefully.

Chiaki felt like she was forgetting something important...

 _...Right, I forgot to wash my hands..._

There was nothing she could do about it now though.

* * *

As usual, the cafeteria was bustling with students and teachers alike, all conversing about many topics like how great today was, how to do this and that, what food they had, and many more. The three girls sat down and shared a table that was currently occupied by Fuyuhiko, Kazuichi and Byakuya - the bigger one, mind you. Ibuki and Mikan sat on both sides of the large affluent progeny while Chiaki settled on the space that both Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi left open for no particular reason at all, with the former on her left and the latter on her right.

Not bothering with how the three girls suddenly intruded on their personal space, Ibuki brought out an abnormally large bento box and handed two pairs of chopsticks towards Chiaki and Mikan before slamming the box down on the table, making Kazuichi's hot soup nearly spill over his jumpsuit. Byakuya focused his eyes on the large box and licked his lips at the sight of such a grand treasure.

Seeing this, Ibuki pulled the box away from him. "This isn't for you Byakuya-chan! This is Chiaki-chan, Mikan-chan and Ibuki's lunch!" She mindlessly opened the box while keeping a close eye on Byakuya's greedy blue eyes. The look on his face after seeing what was inside the box shifted from being interested to utter disappointment.

"Tch. Typical commoner fodder. To think that _I_ could be fooled by such a large box... How shameful of me." Byakuya pointed towards the uncomfortable nurse and imposed his overwhelming presence over her frailty. "Oi, I order you to switch seats with me."

Mikan immediately complied with the large scion's forceful order and left her seat so that he could scoot over her original space. She then immediately took the space between the two people who could be considered more than a crowd, both figuratively and literally.

The musician put the box in the middle of the table so that Chiaki and Mikan could get from the box of food. Ibuki broke her chopsticks in two and started to perform a drum solo on the table. After that intense drumming session, she held the two sticks in the air and yelled.

"WOOOOO-HOOOOOOO! TIME TO DIG IN!!!"

The two other girls broke their own chopsticks and took their respective portions from the bento box conservatively, as opposed to Ibuki's and Byakuya's manner of scarfing down food from their own respective lunches. While Chiaki was slowly munching on the sushi roll that had an... okay taste, the lively musician quickly grew bored of the silence between them.

"Shooooo," Ibuki started while loudly chewing on her food. "What'sh u- OW, MY TONGUE!!" She made a loud yelp and covered her mouth with both of her hands, dipping her two chopsticks on the soy sauce. The more the gamer strained her eyes and ears at Ibuki, she could see the tears glistening in her eyes and hear the quiet sobs of pain... or so she thinks.

"And that's why you learn to chew and swallow before talking, dumbass..." Fuyuhiko spat with a sharp tone.

Ibuki pulled out her multi-colored water tumbler and drank from it. She was suddenly interrupted when a group of students came to their table, with one of them incredibly angry at something. Upon further inspection, the ones who approached them were Shuichi, Maki and Kaito - the one who looked like he just played Kaizo Mario World and rage-quitted after multiple attempts at trying to get past the first level i.e. incredibly pissed off.

Chiaki swallowed her food and addressed them. "Can we help you?"

Kaito was ready to shout at her but Shuichi immediately held him back. "I'll handle this one, Momota-kun. You both have to go around and ask the others."

Maki simply nodded and dragged the angry astronaut with her. The detective cleared his throat and addressed the group. "Is it alright if I asked you all a few quest-"

The yakuza heir cut him off immediately. "No, we didn't see that little bastard. Now, how 'bout you make like a tree and fuck off? We're busy eatin' our lunch here."

"Are-"

Fuyuhiko stood up from his seat and burned a hole through Shuichi with his glare. " **Did I stutter, you fucking retard? Piss me off and I'll cut that tongue of yours then sell it on the black market. Understand?** "

Shuichi quickly nodded and fled from them. Fuyuhiko went back to his seat and continued to eat his lunch. The three girls were shocked with their mouths open. "Oi, flies are gonna get in your mouth if you're gonna leave 'em open like that."

Chiaki broke out of her stupor first. "Was it ok to threaten him like that, Kuzuryu-kun?"

Fuyuhiko merely scoffed at that question. "Have a whole class ask that same goddamn question to you every second then we'll talk."

"Yeah, it was freaking annoying having the same question asked to you every time. 'Excuse me, have you seen Oma-kun?'. 'Did you see a tiny little troublemaker anywhere?'. Seriously, they just won't stop!" Kazuichi complained, sharing the same angry face that Fuyuhiko and Byakuya shared.

Before anyone could say anything else, they were stopped by Ibuki's interjection on the matter. "Ooooh, so that's why there's so many people talking about Kokichi-chan all of a sudden..."

"Tell me about it. Their class rep's always making a fuss over such a trivial matter that they have to go around the campus and proclaim it to everyone they meet like their indecent cultist. Luckily, ours is better and much more refined than that lowly pianist," Byakuya remarked then turned his head towards the munching Chiaki. "Isn't that so, Nanami?"

"I agree with Byakuya-chan! Chiaki-chan is the best class rep ever!"

"Cheers to that..."

Chiaki felt her face heat up with the overwhelming praise that they all poured on her. She could hear her heart play that chiptune victory fanfare at their acceptance. Although it was in her nature to give it her all in everything, it never failed to make her feel all warm and fuzzy inside, especially when it came from her friends. Chiaki simply smiled at her friends with her hand over her chest. "Thanks, you guys, but I'm just doing my best like how Akamatsu-san or Naegi-kun does. Honestly, I think they're just as great, if not better, as I am since they were able to bring a whole class of Ultimates together as a group. I would do the same if one of us decided to skip classes... I think."

"Oh come on! Cut yourself some slack, Nanami!" Kazuichi gave a wide grin and a heavy slap on Chiaki's back, which made her glare towards his direction for almost making her vomit her lunch out. He didn't seem to be affected by her Intimidate skill, so he continued while she went back to eating her lunch. "We think you're obviously the best class rep and anyone who thinks otherwise are gonna have to go through us. That's how much we believe in you!"

"S-Soda-san is right, Nanami-san. Y-You're not doing y-your best like how Akamatsu-san or Naegi-san does, b-but rather, they are d-doing their best like how you do y-your b-b-best. They are following in your f-footsteps."

Chiaki thought long about what Mikan had said. It was true, wasn't it? Kaede was the first one to call a meeting for the class reps to give out ideas about how to make their time at Hope's Peak Academy better than it is. Honestly, a change in pace would've been immediately better than their current situation. Chiaki fervently believed on the fact that talent isn't the only reason they're here right now. The three class reps were evidence of that. No one would've expected an ordinary-looking student, a narcoleptic gamer and a piano maestro to become the representatives of great Ultimates, but because of this, the school started to keep a very close look on them. Those people still believed that they had a knack - a hidden talent of sorts - for being the chosen leaders of their respective classes, and not examine the person behind the talent. It was only natural that the three of them needed something else to break away from their jobs while also doing it at the same time.

Even though it was Makoto's idea to hold a party for their respective classes and the other two agreed to this idea, he admitted that he was inspired by how Chiaki became a class rep and he wanted to see if he can get his classmates to prepare for their very own party. Kaede, too, was inspired by how Chiaki used her talent that normally would have distanced her from other people to gain the acceptance of everybody. 'Nuff said, their ideas and actions all came from how Chiaki bonded with her own classmates.

In the end, it all came down to what her teacher said to her that day. If she hadn't encouraged her to try, Chiaki might've stayed as a recluse.

"...Hmm." She gave a thoughtful hum towards Mikan's words. "If my friends say so, then I guess they're right."

"Damn right." Fuyuhiko said with a smug look on his face.

They enjoyed their communal meal together for a while. Ibuki was there to start conversations if the silence became too boring for them. The others were there to keep the conversation going, up until they had nothing else left to add to the original topic. It was like they were playing a game of sorts. Time really did pass by quickly with dialogue, didn't it?

They had one last conversation, and it was concerning the party itself. Naturally, Ibuki was the one to start it.

"Whew, Ibuki's all filled up!" the musician set her chopsticks down and huffed with her nose somehow elongating. Chiaki had to double-check if there were any red mushrooms hidden in their meal. Bummer. There weren't any. She would have shared their lunch with Fuyuhiko if there were. "Sooooo Chiaki-chan, who's the special someone?"

Chiaki raised her eyebrow inquisitively. "What do you mean, Mioda-san? All of you are special to me."

The group was shocked into silence. The confused gamer became even more confused than ever. Was it something she said?

"Ummm, I-I think she means if you have a b-boyfriend, Nanami-san."

"Oh..." Chiaki's face fell from that question. "...I don't have any. Should I have one?"

"Kyaaaaahaaa! Chiaki-chan's innocence is too pure for Ibuki!"

"Are you seriously kidding me?!"

"Since when the fuck was having a special someone required anyway?!"

"Quiet." Byakuya ordered to the bickering Ultimates. "Let me rephrase the question then: "Is there anyone in particular that catches your interest; someone who you won't mind spending time with?""

Chiaki fiddled with her hood to hide the blush that colored her cheeks upon hearing the question. Why was she being put on the spot right now? She didn't understand but all she has to do is answer, right?

"There is... one person that comes to mind... but I don't know if he feels the same way... I think. Maybe."

"Ooooohhh! Is it-"

 _*ding dong dong ding_ *

There's that creepy tune again. Ibuki let out a long groan, possibly from not being able to finish her question for Chiaki. The latter, on the other hand, was thankful that she was kicked out from the literal hot seat. The forlorn musician picked up the box while the others picked up their own trash and disposed them in their proper places. Chiaki approached the depressed Ibuki and gave her a reassuring pat on the back.

"Let's continue this at the party, ok Mioda-san?"

Ibuki then immediately lunged at her and hugged her tightly. Chiaki reeled from the shock for a brief moment before returning the gesture.

"Mmmm... Chiaki-chan is so soft and squishy... Just like Ibuki's teddy bear!"

It was getting more difficult for Chiaki to breathe due to the musician's constricting grip. "Mioda-san... you can let go now. We still need to prepare for the party, remember?"

Ibuki immediately sprang back and gave her trademark "Ok!" pose. "Got it! Let's rock the auditorium out until it's A-ok!"

* * *

The group later arrived at the auditorium. They seemed to be the first so they decided it was a good idea to wait for the others before they entered. Not long after, they all reunited by the entrance of the auditorium and their excitement from earlier didn't die down either. Taking this as her cue, Chiaki reached her hand to open the double-doors towards the auditorium to enter but was suddenly held back by cold and slender fingers.

Confused, she turned around only to see that it was Nagito who prevented her from entering. His expression looked unnaturally serious and gazed towards the entrance as if there was a secret boss on the other side of these double doors. Did one spawn in just now?

"Komaeda-kun? Is there something wrong?" Chiaki asked as calmly as ever.

"Please forgive me for imposing on you, Nanami-san, but there is something I must check inside first." Nagito ordered firmly to his class rep without meeting her eyes. "If you would, could you please wait here with the others for a minute? Not to worry, I won't take up much of your precious time with my selfish request."

Chiaki was silent for a while and blinked sluggishly at Nagito's expression. This was getting weird for her but didn't he say that he wasn't going to take long? "...Sure. We'll wait for you here, Komaeda-kun."

"Thank you, Nanami-san. I won't bother you Ultimates any longer once I'm done with this." he happily replied with his utmost gratitude before moving towards the doors.

"...Ah, Komaeda-kun, please wait." This time, she grabbed Nagito's hand and looked at him with her own serious game face.

He turned around to look at her. "Hmm? What is it, Nanami-san?"

She softened her features and smiled at the white-haired boy. "Please don't look down on yourself, Komaeda-kun. You're still our classmate and our friend no matter what."

Nagito covered his eyes with his free hand let out a laughter that became increasingly louder. This laughter... sounded different to Chiaki and it rubbed her the wrong way. "...As expected of a kind person such as yourself, Nanami-san. Your compassion for us pitiful people knows no bounds!"

Chiaki instinctively let go of his hand and watched as her smiling friend sauntered inside the auditorium. Did her message even get through to him? He was stubborn, like Hajime that's for sure, but because of how similarly stubborn they were, it sent off the wrong signal in her brain whenever she tries to reassure them. She was incredibly worried for the both of them, but most of all...

She was incredibly worried if her words did anything to help them. She wasn't that good in dating sims since she would always get the bad end every time.

What if she gets the bad end on this route too? Or even worse...

Was she locked towards the bad end route in the first place?

Chiaki hoped that that wasn't the case this time.

And she intends to find out the cold, hard and bitter truth during the party.

To keep her mind off these scary thoughts, Chiaki decided let off some steam by playing a quick round of Gala Omega while waiting for Nagito. She pulled up her hood and fished out her Game Girl Advance from her favorite catpack - short for cat backpack as she calls it. She then booted up Gala Omega and focused all her attention on playing it, drowning out all the background noises and chatter around her to listen to the 8-bit sound effects of her game.

After playing for a while, Chiaki eventually forgot about preparing for the party and became engrossed with her video game. All her senses were now completely focusing on the video game itself. Everything that had been bothering her mind were replaced with the music and sound that her Game Girl Advance played as she pressed on the buttons with superhuman precision and calculation. Every movement and shot that her ship made was telegraphed and accounted for. She memorized how the waves of enemies would enter and at rate they would fire at this point, despite some falling under RNG. That didn't matter in the slightest for Chiaki however. Her muscle memory was something her opponents shouldn't underestimate. Once an opportunity for an attack or escape opens up, she _will_ seize it immediately.

A butterfly settled on top of Chiaki's handheld console and opened its wings, trying to get the gamer's attention. It was impossible for the poor butterfly at this point. The only way one can separate her from her video games is by force but even so, Chiaki is surprisingly vicious when it comes to her gaming. Under that cute and innocent face is an entirely different person. Her determination for gaming mirrors her determination for her duties as a class rep. She would sometimes downplay it as "simply doing her best" but anyone who knows her knows that that's a huge understatement; a really, REALLY, huge understatement, for a lack of a better term.

"...Nana..."

Chiaki's facial muscles twitched as her sense of focus faltered for a bit from that sound. She destroyed one last enemy ship before pausing it and returning back to her senses. She can always continue it later so she returned the console back to her catpack. She looked around and realized that she completely forgot where she was already.

"...Nanami-san, you've been standing there for about five minutes now." a white-haired boy awkwardly said to her, grinning at her perplexed state.

She turned her head and stared at the boy's face for a very long while. Only then did she remember everything now.

"Hmmm, I must have been so focused on my gaming that I almost forgot what we were supposed to do..." she said as her eyes wandered towards the auditorium in front of her. "...We should probably get going now."

"Glad to see you're finally back." Nagito jokingly remarked with another casual wave of his hand. "They're all waiting for you inside in case you were wondering where they went."

Chiaki nodded at that and walked inside with Nagito to begin preparing the auditorium for the party tonight.

* * *

The afternoon passed by as quietly and as boringly as ever. No pranks, no chaos, no nothing!

But, the real fun starts during this after class meeting with Kokichi's class. With childlike excitement, the supreme leader bursted into the classroom and did another dramatic pose. This time, he kept a hidden close eye on the assassin and prepared to sidestep another stranglehold.

Nope, that was a lie! No one moved an inch and no one opened their mouth. They all looked at Kokichi like he was the main event of this meeting and not Kaede for once. "...Awwwww, did you guys miss me?~" he said sarcastically. Of course he knew that they wouldn't miss him if he were to suddenly disappear on the face of the Earth.

No reply came. Their stares only hardened towards him. Huh, this silence should have been relaxing for him but there was something that stirred inside Kokichi that was akin to a betrayed expression. Betrayed? No, that can't be it. They couldn't have found out about his plan, could they?

That stirring feeling soon turned into abject frustration and irritation for that white-haired boy. He knew he shouldn't have trusted that psycho to keep his trap shut. Knowing this meddling pianist and her ragtag bunch of friends, they would've frantically ran around the campus and ask if they have seen this elusive troublemaker clad in a white suit. Obviously, no one did, but looking back at it now, Nagito might have noticed him exit the dorms. Maybe that's why he visited the auditorium uninvited since only he knew where Kokichi would have gone to.

Oh well, that idiot can't lie his way out of a wet paper bag anyway so naturally, Kokichi had to tie these loose ends himself. With fake tears, of course.

"W-Why... are you all looking at me... like that? I didn't do... anything wrong... So... so WHYYYYYYY-"

"Cut the bullshit and give it to us straight already, ya little gremlin!" Miu moaned out with a frustrated face.

"Huh? Give what straight? My d-"

"Do not continue that sentence, you lying **degenerate**! You'll taint Himiko's innocent ears with your foul male words!"

"Quiet... You're too loud. I can't focus on my magic if you keep shouting like that."

"WAAAAAH! Tenko is sorry for being too loud!"

"You're still too loud..."

Kiibo rolled his eyes at the usual banter. "Please stop, you two. We are getting sidetracked here." The robot then turned to address the cheeky Kokichi. "Oma-kun, aside from discussing about the party that would happen later this week, we must first discuss about your most recent absence."

"That and the shit you've been pulling on us these last few days..." Kaito grumbled with his arms crossed.

"Oh, so all I have to do is apologize, right?" Kokichi cheerfully asked with fake expectant eyes. Afterwards, he skipped over to the astronaut's seat, dropped down on his knees and begged for forgiveness by pulling and crying on the sleeve of his space suit, even using that same sleeve to blow his nose on, which made Kaito forcefully pull it away from Kokichi.

"O-Oi! Enough's enough, I forgive you, dammit!" he shouted while trying to pry the clingy childish supreme leader away from him. "GET OFF ME ALREADY!!!"

 _Whew, glad that's over with already. Any longer and I would have kissed him too..._ Kokichi thought to himself as he giggled towards his seat at the back of the classroom. Their suspecting eyes were still trained on him while he was still on his seat. He guesses that they were still shocked from the sudden mood shift again.

Kaede, as usual, was the first one to break the deafening silence in the air.

"...You still haven't explained why you were absent this morning though..." she said awkwardly as if she didn't want to talk in the first place but had to since the atmosphere was getting uncomfortable.

"Oh, that..." Kokichi muttered and examined his nails again. They looked dusty, probably from moving a lot of stuff in that auditorium, so he decided to wipe them on his checkered scarf. He continued. "...Duty calls. Being a supreme leader in a large secret organization can be tough sometimes. I had to fix some legal stuff and execute some traitors. I was in a hurry and didn't pay any attention to the time, actually." He then turned his smug look towards Kaede. "You understand how stressful it is being a leader, right Akamatsu-chan?~"

"Well, why didn't you inform us in the first place?"

"Uhhh, hello? _"Secret"_ organization?" he scoffingly stated while putting emphasis on the word "secret". "I wouldn't make such a rookie mistake like that if I know that there are some of you who would be _delighted_ to know more about my organization..." He shifted his eyes towards Shuichi then back at Kaede, as if he was implying something towards her.

"Tch. That's the most bullshit story I've ever heard." Miu remarked with her sharp tongue. "Knowing you, you'd probably lie about being a vir-"

"Quiet, you filthy skank! The mature adults are talking here and nobody asked for your input!" Kokichi immediately shot back to silence her vulgar mouth. As expected, her masochistic side reared its ugly head once more and made her moan and sweat profusely in bliss from being insulted.

Kaede opened her mouth to say something but she immediately stopped herself for a moment and crossed her arms with an intense thinking face. Before she could say anything else, Kokichi stepped in and said the words she would have said.

"Nishishi... that's just a lie! Well, for the most part. I was busy handling some stuff for my plans of world domination."

Kaede sighed unenthusiastically. "So that's your excuse for skipping your morning classes? _You_ were _busy_?"

"Hey! You're not my mommy!" Kokichi complained in faked irritation. "Also, I don't lie _that_ much as you think, Akamatsu-chan! I was busy this morning and that's the **truth**!"

Shuichi whispered something that only Kaede could hear. She then nodded at whatever he said and cleared her throat to speak again. "Alright, fine. We'll let this slide, Oma-kun. But you better not cause us any trouble again, otherwise we'll have Ishimaru-kun handle your detention. Clear?"

Kokichi expected this threat and gave an all-knowing grin. "I heard you loud and clear, class rep."

 _Loud and clear, indeed._

* * *

"Alright... That's all of them," Mahiru asked while panting for air. "Right, Sonia?"

"Indubitably!"

Chiaki took a step back from setting up the lights and streamers around the auditorium and examined her surroundings. She wiped the beads of sweat that traveled down from her head and huffed in admiration of what she and her classmates have accomplished together. "Hmmm, everyone... did a good job... in decorating... I think."

The tired photographer held her camera up and took some pictures to commemorate their hours and hours of hard work. "Yeah... everyone did a decent job... but those boys could have done a lot better if they... weren't slacking off so much..." Mahiru pulled up a chair and sat down. "Whew... I'm pooped..."

Mahiru said what they all felt right now, sans some of the people who were used to spending their energy constantly. Chiaki, Sonia, Hiyoko and Mikan all joined Mahiru in resting by the round table they set up smack dab in the middle of the auditorium. By pulling out these chairs, they just created more work for themselves by messing up their table and chair arrangements.

Ibuki passed by and wanted to sit down with them but they collectively shouted at her to not disarrange the chairs that they spent an hour trying to put them at their right spots under Sonia's careful and pristine management.

"You know... on second thought... maybe we shouldn't use these chairs... instead..." Chiaki commented under heavy breaths. "...We can always... sit... on the mat... or eat... standing up..." She felt like passing out from all that work, although in hindsight, all she did was hang up some decorations, which was minor compared to the heavy lifting her other classmates did. She was seriously considering Nekomaru's advice to train with him but she's afraid that she might not make it through a day with his Level 100 training regiment... or so she thinks. So maybe not now, but in the near future - the same excuse she always came up with when people tell her to exercise.

"Nanami-san, d-do you need to r-r-rest at the d-d-dorms for now?" Mikan apprehensively asked. "Y-You shouldn't p-p-push yourself if you need some r-rest..."

"I can't yet... cuz I... still need to play... video games... with..."

Before Chiaki could continue what she was saying, her brain shut down without warning from being physical and mental fatigue. She tried to force herself to wake up, but to no avail. Her body must have really been all tuckered out. There was nothing she could do right now...

 _Sorry, Hinata-kun. Looks like we'll have to play at the party instead._

* * *

When Chiaki respawned from her deep slumber, she opened her eyes to notice that she was in a familiar place. First, she had to assess if this was the afterlife or if she was living another existence. Nope, she still remembers her friends and Hope's Peak so that means she didn't die and respawn in another world seed. Chiaki let out a relieved sigh.

Next, the gamer examined her surroundings for a bit. She saw a bunch of chip bags, video game consoles and cartridges scattered on the floor, a beanbag sofa that was designed to look like her hood sitting comfortably in front of those scattered objects and- ah, so that's why this place felt so familiar...

She was lying down on her bed inside her room in the dorms.

She shimmied out of her covers and got up to check the time. If she wasn't mistaken the party was supposed to start once the school curfew started, which was at 10:00 pm. The time right now was 8:00 pm. She must have slept for a really long time and oh no...

 _Did I sleep through the entire day?!_

Immense guilt washed over her at that realization. She was supposed to attend class, help in the preparations and meet up with Hajime after that, AND she missed all three of those because she chose to stay up all night, playing video games until she drops. How could she have been so careless about her responsibilities?! She is their class rep and she should always be there for them!

Chiaki repeatedly bumped her forehead lightly against the wall, muttering "Stupid" and "Careless" to herself every time her head met the wall. This slip-up greatly shamed her and she wished that she could load up a previous save file so she can make things right again.

Right, she forgot that this game didn't have any save/load functionality. Is her narcolepsy finally starting to affect her memory as well?

To Chiaki's delight and dismay after hitting her head 25 times or so, the answer to that question was yes... probably. She forgot that she actually did attend class AND help in the preparations, but left Hajime sitting by the fountain, all alone and confused about her untold absence, because she passed out from fatigue. The guilt may have decreased but it was still there.

Chiaki sighed in a tired manner and prepared herself for the party. She decided to make it up to Hajime during the party. She knows that he wouldn't mind if she missed just one gaming session with him... maybe... probably.

* * *

The humid air tonight was surprisingly hot despite it being the colder times of the year. Today was incredibly strange, Chiaki had to admit. When the day was supposed to be hot, it was actually cold and when the night was supposed to be cold, it was actually hot. Combined with the strange things that she went through today, today was definitely stranger than these past few days. Some would say that these unusual turn of events often heralded something ominous that is to come while others would say that this could be something that the world decided to do on a whim. Chiaki didn't particularly partake in superstition, given the fact that she would often relate real world logic to video game logic, but she had to agree with the former.

There was a bad feeling that was burning her insides from the bottom of her stomach the moment she walked out and felt the hot night air touch her now exposed forearms. She ditched her teal-grey jacket and hood and settled for the white button-up shirt just for this occasion. She really wanted to wear that jacket, but the forecast today just told her that that would probably be a bad idea.

Not wasting any time thinking about how today felt like, she rushed over to the auditorium to meet up with the others. The frantic gamer stopped for a moment to catch her breath. She forgot that her stamina wasn't her best stat... again. As she was waiting for her sprint meter to fill back up, she noticed a figure with something spiky protruding upwards on its head standing by the entrance to the auditorium. Who else could it be but _him_?

Chiaki silently approached Hajime who looked like he was hesitating in entering the auditorium from behind and gently nudged that spike on his hair. The boy in his usual white shirt and green tie tensed up and turned around, eyes bulging in shock like balloons being inflated. "O-Oh... it's just you..." he said in ragged breaths. Was he really that shocked? "...Seriously, you scared me for a moment, Nanami. What did I tell you about touching my antenna hair? You do know that that's my sensitive spot, don't you?"

"Oh..." was all Chiaki could muster up as a response to his question. Now that he mentioned it, she remembered Hajime telling her about his sensitive hair. For some reason, touching it would cause something like an electric shock(???) to run through his body. Chiaki never understood how his hair could do that to him but the way it moved based on what Hajime was feeling always did interest her. That tuft of brown hair was a literal antenna.

The dozy-looking gamer mindlessly reached up to touch his hair once more only for it to be swatted away by an annoyed-looking Hajime. "What did I just tell you about touching it?!" he shouted in an irked manner.

Chiaki tended to her slapped hand for a bit and looked at the ground in shame. "I'm sorry, Hinata-kun..."

Hajime shook his head and reached out for that injured hand. "H-Hey, it's okay," Chiaki let her hand fall limply on his gentle palms. He gently caressed it with his other hand and looked away in embarrassment. "I shouldn't have shouted at you like that. Especially since you passed out from stress... I was worried that you might not be able to make it, Nanami." he finished with a meekly-sounding tone, as opposed to his usual assertive and aggressive one.

"You... knew?"

"Yeah." Hajime nodded. "While I was waiting by the fountain, I saw your classmates rushing towards the dorms with Nidai carrying you. I asked them what had happened and that's when I found out about what happened to you..." He squeezed her hand gently enough so it wouldn't hurt her. "...They were worried that you might have pushed yourself to the limit while trying to help in the decorations. You could have taken a small break whenever you wanted, you know." he reprimanded while laughing for a bit, which made Chiaki puff her cheeks out at the other.

"I just want to help them, Hinata-kun..."

"That's very you, Nanami." he gave a warm smile and stopped caressing her hand. "You're always trying to help everybody else, aren't you?"

There's that smile Chiaki wanted and hated at the same time. She loved seeing that kind smile that makes her insides feel fuzzy and relaxed, but due to the times they spent together, playing video games by the fountain, she began to see that dark and awful place his mind would drift off to whenever she won. That smile turned bittersweet. She wished she could remove the bitter part so she can enjoy the sweet part in its entirety. Too bad Hajime was more complex than that. She doubted that she could possibly make him smile more genuinely.

"Hey," Hajime raised his voice to disrupt her train of thought. "Shouldn't we go inside now? The party's about to start."

Chiaki gave a consenting hum and held his firm hand tightly. They then walked inside the auditorium holding hands, both not realizing what they were doing at the moment and what it implied to the others who saw them. As soon as the pair came into the crowd's line of sight, they were greeted by a barrage of cheers, claps and whistles to their ears. Today was _definitely_ strange, indeed.

"I knew it! I freaking knew it!" Kazuichi yelled in frustration. "You traitor! I thought we were souls friends, Hinata! I can't believe you hooked up with our class rep!"

"W-What the-?! Th-This is not what it looks like!" Hajime sputtered as a reply.

"Then why are you still holding her hand like you two are close?!" the infuriated mechanic shouted in response.

Chiaki gave a sideways glance at her partner and noticed a deep shade of red tinging his cheeks. Not only that, but he looked like he was trying to avert his gaze from the group of people standing in the middle and chose to look at the multiple tables that were topped with a plethora of dishes over her shoulder. The gamer was confused on how could such a simple gesture of merely holding hands make Kazuichi react like that and Hajime feel that way. Weren't she and Hajime close in the first place?

"But we are close, Soda-kun... I think..." Chiaki calmly replied back to Kazuichi. She then turned to look at Hajime and clutched his hand with her own. "...Do you think so too, Hinata-kun?" she asked with innocent-looking eyes.

"Huh?!!" Hajime made some sound with his mouth that sounded like that... she thinks. "I mean... I guess we are...?" His lips curved in an awkward-looking smile. Chiaki took note of the red on his cheeks somehow becoming even redder than before.

Eventually, they settled in with the rest of the chattering group. It seems that Kazuichi was the only one who wasn't happy with their arrival since the others were actually glad to see Hajime.

After all, it was Chiaki who personally invited him to the party. She knew that he wouldn't even have come if it weren't for her insistence; out of everyone in her class, she was the most insistent on bringing him to socialize. He was the perfect conversation partner that Chiaki thinks she could never be. It just... never felt the same if he wasn't there. Even if Hajime was "just a Reserve Course student", he would still be a perfect fit with her splendidly wild classmates. It was like he had a natural ability that brainwashes everyone he meets to want to be his friend, no matter how reclusive or antisocial they could be.

 _That's probably why I was attracted to Hinata-kun in the first place..._ Chiaki smiled at that thought. Honestly, she didn't mind if that was the case. Loneliness was something she never wanted to come back to haunt her. Sure, it was a major part of her life, but now that she had gained some great friends...

Multiplayer games became a lot more fun to play.

Chiaki took this moment to drift away from her friends who were deep into their conversation about the food tonight to do a head count. She saw Akane eyeing the food on the tables with Byakuya and Nekomaru both restraining her from charging in first. After their last picnic together at a tropical beach, the ferocious gymnast single-handedly reduced their food supply by a whopping 80%. They had to divide the limited provisions based on their appetite if they all wished to eat; even so, their appetite could not be satiated if all they had about 1/8 of a cup of rice and only a mere spoonful of protein and greens. Chiaki's meal that day was enough to fit in a soup ladle and that wasn't even the worst of it. They all went home with grumbling stomachs that day, including Akane who was still somehow hungry. She'd be a tough pet to raise in Chiaki's video games.

Moving her eyes to a different crowd of people, Chiaki was able to pinpoint all of them, with the exception of Teruteru and Nagito, whom the latter insisted that he watch over the sultry chef's flirtatious movements on the food that the the Ultimates would eat. She then checked the time by fishing out her multi-purpose handheld console from her catpack. With the help of Chihiro and Kazuichi, they were able to modify her Nyantendo DS into a smartphone of sorts, complete with a programmed keyboard for texting, an improved speaker and microphone functionality, better sound and graphic emulation, a better user interface, and even a virtual rabbit that she can take care of in real time. Chiaki didn't need all these features added to her console but she still thanked them for offering to improve one of her consoles for helping them out when they needed someone.

She flipped open her DS and focused first on checking her pet that she named Niki, as suggested by Chihiro herself. Niki decided that it was a good idea to be a bit of a naughty girl and pooped all over the place, filling her home with brown piles of cream everywhere. She spent some time cleaning up her dirty place and fed her some treats afterwards. With Niki finally taken care of, she checked the time and noticed that it had already been an hour since they arrived. She closed her console and went up the stage to address everyone to formally start the party. Teruteru delivered the last remaining dishes just in time too.

Chiaki whistled to catch everyone's attention. Gradually, the chatter quieted down and they all turned towards the stage with mild expectance. Now that she had everyone's attention, she coughed to clear her throat and tried to raise her voice. Formalities first, right? "Good evening, everyone! This year's been rough on us lately, hasn't it? We had our fair share of struggles, downfalls and sadness but we pushed through with everything we've got. And most importantly, we've gone through it all, together, as one big, happy family. I'm so glad that we were given the chance to relax and... have a little fun for once tonight!" The others gave a round of applause at her impromptu speech, much to her delight. Her legs were shaking on top of the stage since she wasn't used to speaking in front of a large group of people at a large event yet, so she wanted to make her words short to get it over with.

Chiaki waited for the claps to quiet down before continuing. "...I'll keep this short cuz I know that you guys are hungry... and probably don't want to hear me talk all night... I think so... Maybe..." she muttered as she focused her gaze on the stage floor. Her voice was getting quieter with doubt swirling around her tongue, holding back her loud voice. The room felt chillier for some reason, so she wrapped her arms around herself to warm her body. Chiaki was starting to regret ever leaving her jacket behind. She can't fiddle with her hood anymore...

"Don't worry! Ibuki will listen to Chiaki-chan even if her speech is too long and boring!" Ibuki yelled to reassure her.

"Yeah!" Akane joined in the cheering as well, pumping her fists high up in the air. "Nanami was always there listenin' to us rant about stuff so that means we should listen to her too! I'll punch anyone who doesn't listen to her!"

Chiaki lifted her head up to see the beaming faces of all her dearly beloved classmates. It was a welcoming sight that made her blush and incredibly happy. She forced a gulp down her throat and tried to bring back her speech voice. Hopefully, she won't hesitate now... maybe.

"Thanks, you guys... Really, I mean it. This party wouldn't have happened if it weren't for our combined efforts to make it so. It makes me happy as your class rep! I just wish Yukizome-sensei wasn't busy right now so she can join us tonight... I'm sure she would be proud of us all... I think. But let's all celebrate for her tonight! I already asked Koizumi-san to film this party for Yukizome-sensei so she can watch it as if she was here herself..." Chiaki looked behind her and coughed for a bit then motioned to end her speech.

"Let's get this party started, everyone!"

The others let out a roar of excitement and went crazy in the auditorium. Chiaki, however, had different plans and approached Teruteru instead since there was something bugging her during the end of her speech. As much as she didn't particularly enjoy a certain white-haired boy's hope speeches to follow after hers, it was a sign of normalcy within the group. Was this her gut telling her that his absence was a bad omen to her?

"Hey, Hanamura-kun." Chiaki tapped the plump chef's shoulder to make him turn around. "Where's Komaeda-kun? Wasn't he supposed to watch over you?"

Teruteru pulled out a comb to brush his suave pompadour. "I do not know, Nanami-san." he curtly replied with his smooth voice. "I heard he had some _business_ to take care with in the backstage." He then gave a snorty chuckle that sounded like a pig oinking and started to bleed through his nose. "*snort *snort* I wanted to join but I have such wonderful people to, *ahem, _serve_ after all..."

Hmm, so Nagito is busy right now... "Ok. Thank you, Hanamura-kun."

"Hmhmhm! There are _other_ ways to thank me, Nanami-san. Just give me a call and I'll be right there to offer you a special dish just for our beloved class rep..!~"

"I'll... keep that in mind for now."

She grabbed something light to eat then returned to Hajime's group and stood beside him. It seems that while she was gone, he was being dragged around by Ibuki to talk to everyone, making his orange juice spill all over the place, which made the poor boy tear up a bit with all the wasted deliciousness. He managed to break free from her grasp by using her ADHD to his advantage. Now, she's keeping Kazuichi busy by forcing him into modifying all of her electric guitars into flamethrowers. It was the mechanic's mistake to continue the conversation by telling her that the idea was stupid and dangerous. The lively Ibuki wouldn't even have minded if her guitars were the reason Hope's Peak would crumble to ashes if she were to do a live school-wide concert.

Going back to the topic of Hajime...

"Are you enjoying yourself so far, Hinata-kun?" she asked while nibbling on a pork bun.

"I'm not really sure..." Hajime said so with a sheepish laugh. "...On one hand, it's nice to be talking to other people even though I was getting pulled around by Mioda and on the other hand, I just... feel so out of place. D-Don't get me wrong, Nanami! I enjoy these nice talks that we usually have but... I'm afraid that they'll get bored of me soon..." his face fell yet Chiaki saw his sullen green eyes look over to hers for a brief second. "...I'm still-"

Before she can reply to his self-deprecation, the speakers made a loud screeching drone which immediately stopped after the lights in the auditorium suddenly went out. Chiaki lost sight of everyone in the darkness since the glass windows were covered by a thick layer of curtains.

She should have just listened to her intuition instead. After all, it's what got her through those Adventure RPGs...

* * *

Beyond the darkness, he heard the whirring sound of the ventilation systems start up. That was the signal. He immediately began to playfully slap the joystick controller in front of him repeatedly and then he slowly pushed the big red button with his index finger to create suspense for himself.

A screeching noise played and stopped ten seconds after it was played. He psyched himself up and twisted his face into the most villainous smile he could manage. If someone could have seen his face right now, it looked inhuman and ghastly. All the white in his eyes were dyed black with malice and his face turned into a darker shade of purple with his mouth resembling a black hole that was shaped like a crescent.

Simply put, it was the stuff of nightmares and that stuff of nightmares would give those foolish buffoons nightmares for days to come.

 **"It's _showtime._ "**

* * *

Ok, this chapter has gone on long enough. From 2k words from the first chapter to 14k words in this one?! Insane, right?

But oh boy... I just brought this unholy fic back from the depths of abandonment

I'm so screwed, aren't I? My schedule is starting to get cramped as I have less and less free time on my hands now. I need to work on making shorter chapters XD.

To make things clear, I'm not dead yet. Although, I'm starting to lose my drive in writing this fic with the lack of feedback. I'd really appreciate it if you guys just left anything down in the comment threads as they are like my cup of coffee to get me back to cranking out my magic. At least, there's one more chapter left and after that, I'll be done with this and go back to writing much shorter fics if I can't keep up this sort of commitment.

They say that quality should be prioritized over quantity, but I'll focus on the latter next and see if that gets me anywhere...


	5. Executing pt 2 (Finale)

A/N: Just a quick heads-up before getting into this chapter. This might contain some uncomfortable things like mild gore, anxiety attacks and some compromising positions. Keep that in mind or you might get blindsided.

* * *

 _Meanwhile, in the auditorium..._

"AHHHHHHHH! THAT SOUND WAS CUUUUUURSED!"

"O-Oi! What the hell happened here?!"

"I can't see! I can't seeeeee!"

"C-Calm down! Or else you'll- Uwah!"

"Save me, Mahiru-neeeeee!"

"Can someone just turn the damn lights on already?! I can't keep eatin' in the dark like this!"

"W-Where are you guys...? Did the blackout happen over here too?"

"E-E-E-Eeeeek!"

"Mikan-chan?! Ibuki's coming to- EEEEP!"

"What the?! What's going on- Oof!"

Chiaki felt something hard and heavy topple and pin her to the ground. She felt a rush of pain go through her body as her back made contact with the ground. Whatever fell on top of her instinctively steamrolled over her chest and face, immediately intensifying the pain which made her squeak out a quiet whimper like a rubber ducky getting squished. For a moment, something soft, moist and sweet brushed over her lips, and something else even harder than the object on top of her slid over her delicates in a teasing manner as the object rolled over her like a Katamari. That moment lasted way shorter than she had thought and her mind abandoned all logical reasoning for the duration. A thought of pulling the object nearer to her lips flashed in her brain.

That thought now became a command for Chiaki. Not understanding what was happening to her, her body mindlessly acted on its own and tried to reach for that hard object...

...But before she could even reach for it, the object was now far from her reach; leaving only an aching sensation in her body... and in her heart...

"S-Sorry!" a voice that probably sounded like Hajime's said to her in apology, bringing the literally depressed gamer back to her senses.

Sounds of falling plates and heavy thuds echoed around the room as the blackout ensued. Not only that, but the panicking voices of Chiaki's classmates joined those sounds as well. Sitting up from her current position, the gamer managed to stay calm and keep still while everyone was running around, tripping over each other as she can evidently hear. In times like these, her skills in playing those investigation games would be important. Chiaki racked through her brain to try and think of a way to assess and remedy this situation.

"Does anyone have a fucking flashlight over there?! One of you bastards needs to go reset the breakers!"

Flashlight... Right! Her console can act as a light source for everyone!

With the pork bun still on her hand, Chiaki fished out her console from her catpack once again. She didn't even need to look at it to know where it is or where the buttons are despite the pitch blackness of the auditorium. Flipping open the DS, she turned the brightness of the screen all the way up. The bright light that emanated from the screen stung Chiaki's eyes for a bit so she had to look away and point the screen up so that the light would become a beacon for her classmates.

"H-Hey! Over there! A light!"

"Ah, using your plaything for gamers as a makeshift beacon... Nice thinking, Nanami-san! Hell! Yeah!"

"Hmph, darkness encircled my foul existence ever since I was born. Unlike you mortals, I do not need something as insignificant as a tiny speck of light to guide me. Darkness blinded me. Darkness guides me. Feh!"

Like moths enticed to a lamp, her classmates slowly huddled near the light source. Akane was still somehow holding up a plate of food and still gorging herself with some skewered meat. The others who tripped over themselves slowly stood up from the ground and joined them as well. With the guidance of their class rep's bright beacon of hope - as Nagito would call it, Peko went over to the two concussed bodies that belonged to Mikan and Ibuki. The musician was apparently locked into a position where their faces touched each other with the nurse's legs keeping the struggling musician there. Chiaki shone the light on them to make it clearer for the others to see.

After Mikan noticed that the "spotlight" was on the both of them, she instantly released the charmed Ibuki and wormed her way off from under her. "Kyaaaaaaaah! I'm s-s-s-sorry, Mioda-san! I-I-I don't know what c-came over m-me..." the nurse wailed out while trying to make herself look pitiful by making a big deal over a small scandal. She started to sob her eyes out.

"Hohoho! That's some _hot_ and _juicy_ action there if I do say so myself!" Teruteru snorted.

"Ewwww! You're really a nasty, trashy pig whore, aren't you?! Go and grovel on that ground like the hog that you are while you're at it!" Hiyoko snapped at the crying nurse with abject hatred on her voice and face even though she wasn't that visible from Chiaki's beacon. Mikan did exactly that as she choked out some pig sounds through her hiccuped cries while she snorted at the carpeted ground.

"Ugyuuu... *snort* *snort* *hic* uuuuuu..."

With a concerned look on her face, Chiaki asked Peko to help the two up. The swordswoman calmly complied with her request and pulled the two into a sitting position to gather their senses. Mikan was still whimpering and Ibuki's face was...frozen in an expression that the gamer can't quite describe. She'd seen that kind of face before in her dating sims but she never really understood why they would make that kind of expression on some CG scenes... or so she thinks.

"Eeehhhh... Mikan-chaaaaan~..." Ibuki moaned out with drool escaping her mouth. Upon closer inspection, her pupils seemed to have been replaced with hearts instead of the usual pink orbs.

"Looks like Mioda's down for the count..." remarked Kazuichi who finally stopped panicking from the blackout.

"You're a real dumbass, Soda." Fuyuhiko added. "Ever accidentally kissed a woman before and loved it?"

"Like hell do you know!" the mechanic shot back. "You never even kissed a girl before!"

"What the fuck did you say to me prick?! I can move past first base before your pathetic ass can land one!"

"You wanna bet?!"

"Oh, you're fucking on!"

"Jeez! You boys are so insensitive!" Mahiru interjected on the tirade between an angry mechanic and a pissed off yakuza, pushing them both away before they can hurt each other. "Women should not be treated as objects for your petty bets! You both should be more like responsible men instead of acting like immature teenagers!"

The three glared at each other for a while until after the two men clicked their tongues at each other and averted their gazes. The auditorium fell into a wordless type of silence. Some sounds could still be heard, like Byakuya and Akane who were wolfing down their portions, Ibuki who was continuing to convulse and drool on the spot while loudly moaning out "Mikan-chan~", Hajime and Peko who were busy comforting the sobbing nurse with shushes and rubs on the back, and Hiyoko who was munching on some gummies instead of eating Teruteru's dishes.

"Now that that's been taken care with," Nekomaru finally spoke up to address the current situation with the others who were busy eating in the darkness by the beacon. "We still need to take care of the lights. Whatever that sound was, it must have caused a breaker overload. We need someone to reset the breakers." The hulking team manager turned to look at Kazuichi's perpetually frustrated state and raised his already loud indoor voice. "Soda! You'll be in charge of that!"

"Yeah, but I'll still need a spare flashlight to go backstage..." he grumbled, not wanting to go to that dark and scary place. "Besides, we can't just use Nanami's console. We'll need somethin' just as strong for here too."

"Well, Nanami? Do you have any other flashlights with you?"

"No, I don't..." Chiaki replied and paused for a moment. "...Probably. Lemme check for a sec."

Setting down her catpack, she handed the flashlight to Nekomaru's gigantic hands and gestured for him to shine it inside the bag of goodies. With the light shining on the stuff she shoved in the bag in a hurry, her eyes darted around the pile of consoles and cartridges and searched for something that could be used as a light source. Technically, her other consoles could be used but the light they emitted would be too dim. Chiaki mentally sighed. Looks like this loot chest didn't hold the items she needed for this moment. Who would bring an extra light source for a party anyways?

Now that she thought about it, Nagito would... probably.

"Sorry, Nidai-kun..." she hastily said as she picked her catpack back up and put the straps on her shoulders. Nekomaru handed the console back to her. "...This is the only flashlight I have."

"Got any other options, coach?"

"Hmmm... Very well! I shall run back towards the dorms and grab a flashlight mysel-"

 ***BANG***

A loud explosion followed by a myriad of pops and crackles near them immediately silenced the loud Nekomaru and stopped everyone from doing what they were doing. No one uttered a word. It was suffice to say that everyone froze up as the strong smell of gunpowder wafting through the air immediately killed their appetites except for a few people who REALLY wanted to eat. Chiaki ate the last remains of her pork bun and joined their silence.

 ***BANG***

Those same sounds reverberated inside the auditorium once more. This time, everyone was able to see the sparks of fire that those pops and crackles made. They were at a considerable distance from the stage... which was directly under the lights in the auditorium.

The panic inside Chiaki's mind was continuing to grow but she managed to keep a calm façade. Those explosions, sounds and gunpowder...

There was no mistake... those sounds came from the lights trying to turn back on. Another round of those explosions might cause the lights to combust... probably.

"Guys..." Hajime spoke up with a hint of fear in his tone. "...I don't think resetting the breakers would be a good idea..."

"Y-Yeah..." Kazuichi nodded with a shaky tone. "...Good call, Hinata..."

It was bad luck that they requested the walls to be soundproof since they didn't want to cause any panic from Ibuki's screamer of a concert. If these walls weren't soundproofed, there'd be a good reason for the bystanders who happened to be near the auditorium to panic. Anyone else would've thought that there was a shooting going on inside but for the people inside, the loud sounds and sparks were an effect of the lights overloading. Someone might have attempted to reset the breakers already.

But the breakers were backstage and the only person who wasn't present was...

"...Komaeda-kun!" Chiaki shouted her thoughts out loud with full-blown panic overriding her calm face. Everyone turned to the general direction of her abnormally panicked shout of realization.

"Huh?" Akane asked in confusion. "Did ya see him or somethin'?"

"Komaeda-kun went backstage, right Hanamura-kun?!" she asked frantically to the chef who was now sweating bullets.

"Y-Yeah, I did say that..." Teruteru said, breaking off from his accent for a moment. "...Why the sudden panic though, Nanami-san?"

"Don't tell me he's..." Hajime quickly added before he bit down hard on his tongue after connecting the dots. "...We need to get him out of there right now!"

"Woah woah woah! Slow down there!" Hiyoko raised her voice to stop Hajime and Chiaki from panicking. "Why are you two in a hurry? That creeper is just backstage, right? So, why should we be-"

"That's because he's trying to reset the breakers, you nincompoop!" Kazuichi already understood the situation at hand and berated the dancer for her stupid question. "He's gonna cause a fire if we don't get him out of there, damnit!"

As soon as the mechanic said those words, there was an uproar inside the auditorium. Even Mikan and Ibuki were shocked right back to their usual selves from his words.

"You better not be fucking around with us, b-bastard!" Fuyuhiko threatened shakily amidst the other panicking voices.

"You think I'm joking around about a friggin' fire?!"

"This party has become disastrous..." Sonia remarked sadly. "...and it was all from a single blackout."

"Blub-blub-blub-blub... Ibuki cannot take this anymore..."

They all continued to talk over each other. They weren't getting anywhere at this rate so Chiaki had to settle this for them, class rep style.

"Guys!" she yelled out but no one was listening. She tried again and again yet no one else seemed to have heard her. Her throat was getting sore but she wasn't about to give up. Not until she finishes her job. However, before she puffed her cheeks out to charge her scream beam for everyone to stop, she was interrupted by a voice.

" _ **LET THERE BE LIGHT!**_ "

Everyone was silenced and they flinched from that extremely loud and commanding voice that blasted through the speakers-

Wait a minute.

The speakers? How?

As if that mysterious voice expected those questioning thoughts, two claps echoed throughout the room and multiple spotlights shone on the stage, revealing a caped shadowy figure on the middle of the stage holding high a microphone on its left hand and a soda can on its right hand.

"Is that... Komaeda?"

"No, he's not! He's WAY too short for it to be him!"

"Then who in the world is this stranger?!"

"That's not the real issue here! More importantly, how was this person able to use the lighting and sound system if there's a blackout?"

"Nishishi... Oh, how _LONG_ I've waited for this day, you guys!" the familiar-sounding voice shouted at the mic with childish excitement. "I've been _DYING_ to finally meet you all!"

"That voice..." Gundham uttered in a soft voice. "...It appears that we were right after all..." That horrified tone betrayed the eccentric breeder's normal tone for his over-the-top speeches.

"Shit shit shit... SHIIIIIIIIITTTT!" both Nekomaru and Kazuichi cursed loudly in sync with each other.

" **MWAH-HAHAHAHA!** It seems that you three have finally caught up with current affairs!" The stranger tossed the empty can of soda to the side of the stage and removed the cape that obfuscated his figure, revealing an incredibly tall mushroom clad in a white suit and checkered scarf... or so Chiaki thinks.

This stranger then pulled out a remote that looked like a large video game controller to the gamer and began to press some buttons on it. As he pressed those buttons, a chanting choir that sounded like the choir that chanted in Cantata Mortis accompanied by the screams in those heavy death metal songs that Ibuki made Chiaki listen to could be heard from the speakers while two geysers of flame erupted from the stage. In addition to that, a vivid display of fireworks and pyrotechnics colored the scenery that unfolded before them. Multiple streaks of light and random explosions made everyone flinch with the brightness and loudness of the light show. There was red there, green here, yellow over there- oh, and there's violet everywhere too. Unlike the others, Chiaki's eyes weren't that sensitive to over exposure to bright lights from her late night gaming sessions in the dark under her comfy blanket - it didn't bother her at all. She just... stared indifferently at the bright lights. What did in fact bother her was the growing heat in the auditorium. Even without her jacket and hood, she still wanted to remove more of her clothing just to cool off.

 _If it was going to be this hot, I should've just come in wearing my bikini instead..._ Chiaki thought to herself with a long look on her face in regret of her uncomfortable fashion choice.

While she was merely watching the show, everyone else just stood there and watched in awe and terror. It was too dangerous for them to approach this stranger with all the sparks and fire surrounding the stage.

"That's right... it's me... Oma Kokichi, the Ultimate Supreme Leader-slash-Ultimate Party Maniac!" he proclaimed loudly while balling his cape and tossing it into the two geysers, sending a burning projectile towards them which burned completely before it reached them. "Nice to meet you, my friends- Oh wait! Let me rephrase that..."

" _ **I'm glad to finally be friends with "Nanami-chan's Minions"!** "_

It was that that made Chiaki's eyes widen and fall to her knees. Everyone else faded from her sight and all the other sounds were muted, leaving her to her own musings. Even with the portable beacon on her hand, all she saw was the pitch blackness of the auditorium. It soon began to swallow everything in her sight. She felt lost in this scary and all-too-familiar cavern that she tried to avoid every time she thought deep about... stuff.

 _Minions...? They're not my minions... They're my friends... right?_ she thought to herself in apprehension to the answer to that question that targeted her specifically.

Then again, she wonders what would've happened if she wasn't their class rep. Would they still treat her the same way? Would they still listen to her when she would suggest that they hold parties to create memories and strengthen their friendship?

Kokichi's description of her classmates would've rung true if they didn't treat her the same way. That thought did _not_ feel good at all...

...The thought of her friends becoming like those mindless troops in those simulation games that followed her every command sickened her to the point where she wanted to vomit out everything inside her. They're all such wonderful and splendid friends. She never wanted them to feel compelled to heed her every word. How _dare_ she destroy their sense of self with her position?!

Her body felt extremely heavy and she lay broken on the ground, completely paralyzed - her mind the only thing that's active in her.

They'd really become her minions who only respected her because of her position and achievements as class rep.

It's the same thing all over again...

It's always because of her title that she was recognized and she _hated_ that...

Sure, she was fine with them praising and validating her and her efforts. In fact, it felt good and it never failed to make her happy but now that Kokichi hit her with that twisted perspective, the bad effects started to take a toll on her feelings.

Chiaki was starting to hear echoes and murmurs at her vicinity. As she heard them, she was suddenly put in familiar scenery instead of the insides of the dark auditorium.

 _"...I agree with our **class rep**. We should not avoid this opportunity for your hopes to shine even brighter!"_

 _Would Komaeda-kun have agreed with me if I wasn't their class rep?_

 _Huh? No! Wait! Stop!_

 _""No can do, **ma'am**! Ibuki must make sure our **class rep** does not fall asleep on the way, so I'll wait by the door!" Ibuki yelled while **saluting**."_

 _S-Stop it! Mioda-san is my friend! She would've helped me regardless-_

 _"Tell me about it. Their **class rep's** always making a fuss over such a trivial matter that they have to go around the campus and proclaim it to everyone they meet like their indecent cultist. Luckily, **ours** is better and much more refined than that lowly pianist, isn't that right?"_

 _"I agree with Byakuya-chan! You are the best **class rep** ever!"_

 _No! Stop looking at me as your class rep-_

 _"Oh come on! Cut yourself some slack! We think you're obviously the best **class rep** and anyone who thinks otherwise are gonna have to go through us! "_

 _"S-Soda-san is right. Y-You're not doing y-your best like how Akamatsu-san or Naegi-san does, b-but rather, **you are the best class rep ever and they are simply copying you.** "_

 _Tsumiki-san?! That's wrong-_

 _"Even though it was Makoto's idea to hold a party for their respective classes and the other two agreed to this idea, he admitted that he was inspired by how Chiaki became a **class rep**. Kaede, too, was inspired by how **Chiaki used her talent that normally would have distanced her from other people**. 'Nuff said, their ideas and actions all came from how **Chiaki brainwashed her classmates to be her friends with video games.** "_

 _No! That's not true! THAT'S NOT TRUE! STOP IT!_

 _"Don't worry! **Ibuki will listen** **even if her speech is too long and boring!** " _

_"Yeah! **We should listen to her too! I'll punch anyone who doesn't listen to her!** "_

 _"Hmhmhm! There are other ways to thank me. Just give me a call and **I'll be right there to offer you a special dish just for our beloved class rep!** "_

 _Stop it stop it stop it STOP IT!_

 _"Please don't look down on yourself, Komaeda-kun. You're still our classmate no matter what."_

 _"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! As expected of **our class rep**! **Your ability to detect the problems of the ones you lead knows no bounds! You should have been called the Ultimate Class Rep instead!** "_

 _STOP IT! I'M NOT JUST-_

 _"That's very you. **You're always being a class rep to everybody else, aren't you?** "_

 _No... not you too... Hinata-kun... I thought... you understood me better than anybody else..._

More unpleasant thoughts that were once happy memories to Chiaki began to play in her brain. Those memories became warped with her current state of mind. Everything she thought she did as being as their friend was now twisted into something that went with the idea that she brainwashed everyone to escape her crushing loneliness. Even those happy fun times with Hajime and Chisa as best friend and pupil respectively lost their original meaning.

Everything Chiaki did that was once validated became invalid for her.

She didn't realize that tears were falling from her eyes as more and more of those horrible memories played in her mind. The warm colors, like the orange that glowed by the fountain whenever Chiaki and Hajime played video games and the bright yellow that shined through the windows of her classroom whenever homeroom was in session that she often associated them with became dark, but not as dark as the blackness of the auditorium; it was bright enough so she would be able to see clearly. She wanted them to stop. She wanted to believe that those weren't true but it just seemed so _real_.

Why did it have to make so much _sense_?!

Why did she even wan-

BANG*

The loud and sudden sound of a firecracker going off near her shocked Chiaki out of that anxiety attack. She sprang back up, the suddenness of the action made her free hand accidentally slap her face in a resounding smack. It was almost as if she needed to be scared by a firecracker and slapped to bring her out of that _dark_ and _horrible_ place. The memory was still fresh in her mind and the hand that was holding the Nyantendo DS was quaking.

 _I need to stop thinking about that... It's not healthy..._ she mentally commanded to herself, mashing the buttons frantically to stop the anxiety from taking over.

They aren't her minions. They're her friends.

They aren't her minions. They're her friends.

They aren't her minions. They're her friends.

She spammed those words to herself repeatedly. She firmly believed in the thought that Kokichi didn't mean what he said and that it was just another nickname for her friends in supreme leader lingo. Sure, it sounded like she was in denial but she will latch onto that thought until proven otherwise.

After repeating those words to herself, she was finally back to her normal self. It seems as if the supreme leader's presentation on stage was finally finished, accentuated by the fact that he was laughing uncontrollably like Kefka's cackling during the fourth movement of Dancing Mad.

The resemblance was so uncanny that it made Chiaki shudder at the thought of Kokichi causing the end of the world just to prove a point...

The gamer used the beacon on her hand to examine the expressions on her classmates' faces. Most of their expressions told her that they all had their souls ripped off of them, leaving a perpetually anguished face from that harrowing experience of pyrotechnics and deathly music, like something out of a creepy Pokédex entry.

"Nishishi..." Kokichi giggled at the mic in glee. "How did you guys like my entrance? I know I know...pretty gr-"

"You'd do well being called the Ultimate Maniac instead, you psycho!" Hiyoko snapped while hiding behind a frozen Mahiru.

"WHATEVER!" Kokichi yelled at his mic again. Chiaki had to cover her ears this time. Her ears could only take so much from his high-pitched yelling, amplified by the loud speakers. "You guys don't know how to start a party so allow me to rectify this amateur mistake for my _precious_ friends!"

She saw Kokichi hold the remote up high in the air and made the index finger of his free hand slowly approach some random button on it. Did someone activate their slow motion skill?

"S-Someone get him out of here now!" yelled Teruteru in a panicked voice. He didn't even need to say it since it was the most obvious thing to do right now. Peko and Akane bolted over towards the smirking supreme leader to try and bat the remote away from his hands. Seeing this, Kokichi's quickened his trigger finger and pressed a button on the remote which activated more fire pillars, barricading all possible entry points to his current position. The duo decided to back off slowly from the evil villain on stage and wait for the opportune moment to strike.

With another press of a button, something small exploded between the two and they jumped back on reflex. They completely abandoned their mission and gave the stage a wide berth. Yeah, that seems like a good idea... maybe.

"I think I made it pretty clear that it'd be a bad idea to defy the evil supreme leader, yeah?" Kokichi stated smugly while letting the flames die down so the others can see him. He made sure that they weren't completely shut off though. "Oh, and before you try to throw something at this remote, I have an extra right here in my pocket." He pulled the extra remote from his pocket to prove his point.

That remote was able to activate a lot of dangerous things on stage; it was almost as if that remote held all the power inside this auditorium, from the building's power supply to booby traps that she didn't even know existed inside the auditorium in the first place.

And that was the kicker to all the strange things that happened during the party...

They were planning to have a simple party, with as little pyrotechnics or explosions as possible, and yet an outside party was able to turn this simple party into an enormous fire hazard. Only Chiaki and her classmates were privy to the specifics of the party, like the whereabouts, party supplies, equipment and decorations, so how did Kokichi manage to plan all this right under their noses?

 _"The Prince of Lies is always lurking within the shadows, searching for a suitable prey to spit its virulent tongue on. Considering how he already sunk his fangs on our helpless and demented ally, it would only be a matter of time before he learns of our banquet. When the moon glows brightly on the night of our gathering, he would unleash his venom upon us all!"_

Was this what Gundham meant? Was Kokichi spying on their class the whole time?

Well, she didn't know the exact answer to those questions. All she knows is that there is a supreme leader here who basically crashed their party. Quite rudely, too.

It didn't even need to be said that crashing into a party uninvited was disrespectful.

Thinking about it now, Kokichi *did* lack EXP points in his Morals stat, didn't he? That would explain his lack of decency or respect for other people... or so she thinks.

"Now that that's out of the way," Kokichi started and played with the remotes by juggling them both. "Let's kick this party off with a simple game! There's a prize for whoever wins~!"

The others groaned except for Chiaki. In fact, she became excited and started to fire off one question after another. "A game? What is it?! What are the rules?! What are the prizes?! How do-"

"Nishishi... calm down, Nanami-chan! It was just a lie!"

"Oh..." the gamer's excitement instantly crumbled to dust with one simple sentence. She thought that he was going to make friends by playing a game with them. Her face hung low into a downtrodden and defeated state. "...I thought..."

"Oopsies~!" he cut Chiaki off with the same excitement that she had just a few moments ago. She perked her head up. "Did I say it was a lie? I'm sorry, but that was a lie too!"

Before Chiaki could make a reply, the others quickly jumped to her defense and started to reprimand and berate Kokichi.

"Hey! Stop playing with Chiaki-chan's emotions like that!"

"You got some balls for trying to pull a prank like this on a yakuza huh?!"

"Just what are you trying to pull here anyway?! You can't just come crashing in here and expect us to play some kind of game with you!"

"What utter nonsense. I shall now render your entire existence to oblivion as punishment myself!"

"Alright alright fine! Jeez!" Kokichi raised his voice to drown out the barrage of statements directed at him. "I was gonna return Komaeda-chan to you all if you guys just cooperated but nooooo... you just had to act like freaking buzzkills, huh?! Well, so be it! I guess we'll just skip the fun parts and go right ahead to the main event then!" he angrily yelled while smashing his fist at one of the buttons on the remote in a fit of frustration. The others voiced their concerns for the missing Nagito but those fell on the supreme leader's deaf ears. "Have fun suffocating in this godforsaken building for all I care!"

Kokichi pocketed both remotes and put on a two-faced gas mask to cover his face before retreating backstage. After he left, the spotlights that were focused on him shut off abruptly, leaving the others to rely heavily on Chiaki's source of light.

The room fell silent after his stomping exit, save for the quiet sound of smoke getting exhausted from the smoke machines that were positioned on weird spots. For some reason, Chiaki felt sleepier than usual and started to yawn for a very long period of time. She also began to sway in place, the weight of her drowsiness making her legs wobble in a threat to collapse under their own weight. The dead silence in the room was broken after both Chiaki and Akane broke into a coughing fit and collapsed on the floor, the sound of heavy thuds reaching everyone's ears.

As her eyelids were getting heavier by the second, she could hear the concerned yells of her classmates and the sound of bodies dropping on the floor. Chiaki's eyes managed to open in shock of seeing Hajime collapse to the ground beside her. "Hinata-kun...!" she tried to reach for his hand but her arms felt extremely heavy from fatigue. She could see that the other boy was struggling to get up from the ground as well.

Why was everyone falling down at the same time?

Why did she feel so tired all of a sudden?

Chiaki was starting to lose her hold on her thoughts as she was being lulled to sleep - to forget everything and just... _*yawn*_ rest for a bit…

"I'm alright... don't worry. Can you... *yawn*... move, Nanami?"

"...I...can't... I'm really...*yawn*...sleepy..."

"Damn it...! Were...we set up...?"

"*yawn* Can I take...a nap...beside you, Hinata-kun...?"

"Nanami...?"

"...zzz..."

"Nanami...! Wake...up... Now's not the... time... to... *yawn*... sleep..."

"...zzz..."

Everyone in the room soon fell to a dreamy deathlike sleep, not realizing that they were all knocked out by Kokichi's special laughing gas.

* * *

Ten minutes.

That's all the time he had and needed to move the bodies before they would all wake up from the effects of the gas. There was no time to waste dilly-dallying around, so he immediately ran to the rendezvous point where he and Gonta planned to meet up.

After a short trek through the woods (not really), he saw the husky entomologist seated on the grassy area by the tree, humming a tune to himself as a bunch of butterflies that were flying around him suddenly fled when they sensed the malice that was buried deep inside Kokichi draw closer. Gonta was saddened that the other butterflies left without saying goodbye. His eyes looked like he was longing for some company from those creepy crawlies.

He can have his fun later, after he helped Kokichi with his.

"Sorry to cut your little bug chat short, Gonta..." Kokichi apologized in faux sadness. "...But it's time for the show to begin."

Gonta stood up in attention and excitement for the news. "Ah! Gonta is glad to finally host-"

The supreme leader made a gesture with his hand that commanded the other's mouth shut. "Yeah, yeah, I know you're excited and all but you're gonna have to help me out for a bit longer, okaaaay~?" he said as he smirked with evil intentions lurking deep within his smile. He pulled out two gas masks and handed the larger one to Gonta before he continued. "Here. Be sure to wear this mask once you get inside, okay Gonta? Someone farted in the building and it made a **really** stinky smell that I had to puke." he paused and made a retching sound to prove his point. "Anyways, do you have the stuff ready?"

"Mhm! Gonta has everything prepared, from rope to Insect Exhibit!" the gullible Gonta happily replied to affirm Kokichi's question while pulling out the things he asked Gonta to bring, including the makeshift kangaroo pouch for Kokichi to ride in as a joke.

Well, at least he took this partnership seriously, right?

"Great job, Gonta!" he exclaimed loudly as he jumped inside the pouch and wore the gas mask, gesturing for Gonta to follow. After the both were now in their gas masks, Kokichi shouted once more in an attempt to rally Gonta towards the auditorium.

"Now then, CHAAAAAAGRE!" he pointed towards the auditorium and Gonta literally charged towards said building like a mad bull. The latter was so fast that the former had to hold on the straps of the pouch to keep himself from falling off. Kokichi looked like he was having the most fun he ever had in life. He always dreamed of being able to control a giant to do his bidding and he was fulfilling that dream right now.

Kokichi decided to have his fun for a short while. "YEAAAAHHHHHH! MOVE FASTER, GONTA! WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME LEFT!"

Gonta somehow managed to move even faster than before. From the looks of it, he was sort of running at the speed of sound by now. Each of his steps were taking humongous strides every time his feet touched the ground alternatively. With his great speed, he left dust in his wake. After a significantly short amount of time, they arrived at the entrance of the auditorium. Kokichi dismounted himself from his most trusted steed and ordered Gonta to open the auditorium. With little effort, Gonta propped the doors open so they can transport the bodies much easier. Kokichi took one of the remotes that he had and turned the lights on with it. The others were still under the effects of the laughing gas, it seems.

"Hmmm, why are visitors asleep, Oma-kun?" the husky gentleman asked after observing the sight of multiple sleeping bodies piled on top of each other, crossing his arms in deep thought.

"Oh, don't worry about them!" he jumped and gave a slap to Gonta in the back since he was so freaking tall! "They just partied hard and fell asleep! They're gonna wake up soon and I wanna **surprise** once they do!" he lied and Gonta, being the gullible and naïve gentleman that he is, took it as the truth.

Gonta then went to work in tying the bodies in groups of two or three with the sturdy rope that he has while Kokichi went to the extraction zone to acquire his package, which was just some random comically large cart that was hidden in a conveniently shaped bush. The size of the cart was enough to house some of them. The larger people had to go first, which means that Nekomaru and the fat Byakuya had to go first. Kokichi can shave off a few minutes of his precious time by making trips from the Insect Exhibit to the auditorium and back; the two avenues were nearby after all.

Kokichi eventually found the cart and wheeled it towards the auditorium. As expected, Gonta was finished in grouping them up exactly the way he intended, with Mikan as the only one who was isolated. Gonta would definitely be a good minion to have...

...Or maybe even his very own right-hand man to challenge Kaede and Shuichi's authority.

Time can only tell.

"Soooo, did you remove all their weapons, Gonta?" he asked after observing Gonta's admirable handiwork.

"Gonta removed all dangerous items on visitors." the large gentleman oh so innocently replied. "Would be bad if visitors attacked insects with weapons..."

 _Looks like he had a brain in there after all..._ Kokichi kept that comment to himself and instead replied with a "Wow, that's some smart thinking!" like he had gained some sort of achievement for actually being thoughtful.

"Thank you, Oma-kun!"

Gonta then carried the heavy passengers first and placed them in the cart. Since there was still space to put over them, the supreme leader ordered Gonta to put the shorter and lighter people on top. After a pile of bodies formed on the cart, Kokichi draped the cart with a cloth to cover the sleeping bodies. He then sent Gonta off towards the drop-off area. While the other was busy carting the sleeping passengers, Kokichi figured it was a good time to help himself with some delicious grub. Kokichi took off the gas mask and grabbed an American-style hot sandwich with a side of grapes and soda on a plate and enjoyed the dinner that wasn't even meant for him. He didn't need to worry while eating since the laughing gas has already dissipated due to Gonta propping the doors open for the outside air to ventilate the fumes inside.

As he was busy chomping down on the sandwich, he walked over towards the sleeping forms of Hajime and Chiaki and observed them with a blank expression on his face. They were huddled together, face to face, from the rope with their arms and legs wrapped around each other. He made especially sure to tell Gonta to them together this way. On first glance, it was a cute sight of them cuddling with each other, but there was another less cute reason why they were the only ones who were tied this way.

And it wasn't just so he can make them suffer from stiff joints - no, it was much more sadistic than that...

A lesson in reality needed to be taught to these uneducated morons. Especially to these two.

His blank expression upturned into an all-knowing smirk as he slurped from the bottle of soda in his hand. "Nishishi... After I'm through with you, you'll wish you never woke up, Nanami-chan..."

There was something artistically satisfying about an angel who crashed from the heavens above to this evil supreme leader. He'd clip this angel's wing and revel in the sight of her unholy descent from greatness, with no hope of ever returning, then send her crashing down into the murky quagmire, sullying her pure and pristine image with his malice. It was evil, but _**DAMN**_ he'd be lying if he didn't say it felt _**GOOD**_!

Moving on from the two lovebirds in their makeout session of sorts, he went over to the other sleeping groups of people. He brooded over the numerous ways he could torture them with the free time he allotted for himself before the Insect Exhibit. Unfortunately, all he had was this unwieldy big-ass revolver. Well, at least he had a bunch of pellets with him. With these, he can rain down a storm of fake .45 caliber revolver bullets...

Wait, he had an EVEN better idea.

Why not hold both Nagito and Chiaki at "gunpoint"? Hell, why not throw Hajime in there too just for the heck of it?

Kokichi giggled in glee as he fantasized about the scenario that would unfold if he forced them to send one of their "friends" to their "death". Two of them lead to painfully obvious choices, and then there's this person who was on the midway point of the like-and-dislike scale. Of course, they would obviously go for the one who deserved it the most among them - it was a no-brainer to condemn their resident troublemaker to the executioner...

...But one should ask, can Chiaki really kill Nagito off in good conscience?

Or does she have the guts to offer to off herself to save two of her friends?

So many questions, too little answers...

They *could* always send Hajime to the gallows if they felt like it was too hard of a decision for the class.

Kokichi, unfortunately, decided to throw that idea into his mental dumpster filled with other bad ideas. "Ehhh, that's too old-fashioned anyways," he commented as he took another handful of his sandwich. "And _super_ unoriginal too..." he swallowed that handful in realization of such an obvious truth.

He skipped over to the cuddly duo once more but he froze mid-flight in a comedic manner when he heard someone talk in their sleep.

"...Nghh... I need to stop him... he's going to eat them all..."

"Oh~?" unfreezing himself, Kokichi abruptly turned his neck towards Chiaki's mumbling and crouched near the sleeptalking girl. "Would you prefer if I eat you instead~?" he whispered near her ear in a very mockingly sadistic tone. "Or how about your precious allies?"

"No, stop! Please... spare them... I led them here... They all don't deserve this..." she sleepbegged to the giddy supreme leader who was having fun turning her fantasies into a nightmare.

"Nishishi... I'm VERY hungry and I don't think eating you alone will satisfy me. You can't cheat me a deal with your high stats, Nanami-chan! I might as well eat them all now!"

"You... you... _monster_!" she struggled and moved her legs around in a temper tantrum while being restrained by the rope. Kokichi visibly flinched from her unusually loud tone and he had to remind himself that this innocent gamer was just hysterical from the laughing gas. "Let them go! Let them go!"

"Poor choice of words, Nanami-chan!" he then raised the bunch of grapes on his plate over his mouth then dropped it. He chewed the grapes loudly near her ear which made Chiaki struggle and squirm even more desperately.

"Om nom nom... Mmmmm, **deeeelllllllliciousss~** -oh! You should try some; they taste like grapes!"

"No! Stop! No!"

Kokichi actually did stop after he saw actual tears flow out of her shut eyelids and after he heard Gonta push the doors open. He instinctively turned his head for a moment then turned back to the delusional Chiaki. He then leaned closer into her ear and whispered, "I'll be back after a while, my dear Nanami-chan~." all the while playfully messing with her hair in an attempt to "comfort" her. He then gave a teasing kiss on the side of her head and patted it for her.

He stood up from his crouching position and proceeded to approach Gonta. He stopped in his tracks when he heard Chiaki sniffle a few times and say something along the lines of "I hate you..." and "Don't...touch me..." repeatedly like a traumatized child, which lifted Kokichi's spirit and face. It was a lie, of course. All these class reps are forgiving to a fault so there's no way they would actually say that in a resentful manner to Kokichi. Especially for Chiaki. It wasn't like her to growl like a mangy mutt towards anybody, not even towards somebody like Kokichi.

 _Wouldn't that be interesting though?_

Getting Chiaki to despise someone was akin to the ultimate goal of any aspiring evil supreme leader. Unfortunately for this particular Ultimate Supreme Leader, this didn't count because of the laughing gas. He definitely had the ability to make everybody hate him so much that they wouldn't even give a damn if they saw him bleed out in front of them. Even if they did, he'd continue to antagonize himself until the moment he breathed his last.

His tenacity is vicious but so is Chiaki's. Once they put their minds into something, they always, **always** , see it through to the end. No task was too daunting for them if these two were driven. Kokichi's undying insistence with being an evil supreme leader hadn't met its match until he knew of Chiaki's unwavering compassion and kindness for everybody.

Now that he thought about it, perhaps he and that gamer girl weren't so different after all.

They were both tenacious leaders who controlled a large group of minions.

They had a hard time fitting in with society.

They both loved playing "games" with the "others".

Kokichi had a few more in mind but even with all these similarities, they had one very evident difference with each other.

The devil has met the angel and only one can come out of the meeting _**alive**_. So, it's either he falls to Chiaki's sympathy, or she falls to Kokichi's malice. The millionaire's question would then be "Who would win?".

Naturally, he was aiming for the jackpot and he's planning to go All-In on the latter scenario. This cruel game was rigged from the start against Chiaki's odds and he has a considerable lead against her right now. Not only that, but he hasn't even played all his cards yet.

And what chance did she have in winning?

An infinitesimal. That's what.

Now onto more pressing issues...

"Hmmm?" Kokichi raised his arms and intertwined them behind his upturned smile and curiously tilted head. "You were fast, Gonta!"

"Ah, Gonta got excited that he rush sleeping visitors as fast as he can." the third-person conversationalist explained. "Should Gonta move slower next time, Oma-kun?"

"Well..." the supreme leader held a finger up his chin pensively. "...As long as you don't wake them up then it's fine really. Heck, you can even toss them around like toys if you wanted to!" he suggested with fake innocence in his expression.

"Gonta would do no such thing to visitors! It super ungentlemanly!"

"Nishishi... relax Gonta. It's only a friendly suggestion."

Gonta merely nodded at that and went ahead to load up the empty cart with more bodies. This seems to be the last trip he's making. With a bit of a look of longing on his childish face, Kokichi decided to fill a plate up with food for Gonta with some leftover orange juice.

His most loyal servant was now done transporting all the bodies inside the cart and was ready for the next trip. Kokichi noticed this and ran towards him with both of their food. "Gonta, wait!"

"Huh? Do you need something else from Gonta, Oma-kun?" Gonta asked with his hands still on the handle of the cart.

"Let's... take a break for a while." Kokichi offered the plate with Gonta's food towards the other. "I mean, a gentleman needs to have his dinner, right?"

"Right! Gonta almost forgot to eat his from waiting in grass!" Gonta then took the plate and happily enjoyed his meal in appreciation of the food given to him. Kokichi took this as a signal to finish the remains of his dinner. "This is really good!" Gonta remarked after having a few large portions from the grilled fish. "Did you make this, Oma-kun?"

"Of course, I did, Gonta!" the lying supreme leader replied with another wide beam. He then pointed towards all the food in the auditorium. "You see all this? I made it all just for them and the two of us!" Kokichi began to tear up and continued his lying. "And... and... *sniffle* *sniffle* UWAAAAAAAAAAAHHAAAAHAAAAA! THEY DIDN'T EVEN INVITE US TO THE PARTY, GONTA! HOW COULD THEY?! AFTER EVERYTHING I DID FOR THEM! UWAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Gonta approached Kokichi and comforted the crying supreme leader by picking him up from the ground and hugging him. The one who was being comforted wailed out even louder then used the large gentleman's messy hair as a tissue to blow on.

"It ok, Oma-kun." Gonta ignored the snot on his hair and patted Kokichi on the back as lightly as he can. "Gonta will eat dinner with Oma-kun. You do not need to cry no more..."

After a very lengthy hurt and comfort session, Gonta finally let Kokichi down and continued their communal dinner together. Kokichi swung his mood around once more, returning to his usual cheerfulness.

The two finished their dinner at the same time even though Kokichi had his almost finished. They both set their plates down at one of the servicing tables, with Gonta's plate on top of Kokichi's. The latter then went to the cart that was filled to the brim with bodies and sat at its peak that was covered with cloth.

Wait, who was he sitting on top of again?

Eh, doesn't really matter as long as his seat wasn't hard and protruding up his asshole.

With every last bit of innocence in Kokichi's mouth obliterated, Gonta began to push the cart towards their destination. The ride was neither fast nor slow. It was some semblance of a scenic ride for the two of them. With the squeaky creek of the cart's wheels from the weight of its load, the supreme leader tried to relax just this once. He spent the whole day running around the campus that was enough to match the circumference of the entirety of Hope's Peak; that wasn't a hyperbole by the way.

Kokichi tilted his head up and shifted his weight on the two arms that were teetering on the cart's edge for balance. It was a peaceful night after all and the stars always seemed so pretty for this evil supreme leader, because that's what Gonta would always say when the class would always go stargazing during their numerous outings. It just... eventually registered for the cynical Kokichi that these stars were beautiful in a sense that their beauty couldn't be destroyed by manpower. No, he wasn't some braindead astronaut who thought that he could reach for the stars with his hands if he so wanted. The most he could do is to obscure that beauty. There really wasn't anything that can be done to the beautiful luminosity itself.

Hm. Maybe he didn't need to destroy that beauty after all.

Kokichi remembered how Nagito would always ramble about the absolute hope that would overcome the greatest despair and how beautiful and arousing it would be once that psycho saw it.

 _"Ah...I can see it now. The hope that would come...from the despair that my classmates would feel...from my death..."_

Those words still continued to ring in Kokichi's head after he let the other inhale a *slightly* excessive amount of laughing gas.

He should've expected some intoxication from that mistake...

...A very interesting intoxication that bathed the night sky in a terrifyingly different light...

Oh, he's gonna give Nagito what he wants alright - a twisted gift for a twisted point of view.

Seems fitting, don't you think?

Right, Kokichi was mentally having a conversation with nobody for a second. He tried his best to forget that really embarrassing thing he just did even though no one would've even known in the first place. The supreme leader let out a sigh and just focused on looking at the lights above without going too philosophical on the matter. That's what got him into that shameful mess after all…

* * *

The stars continued to glow in the night sky just as the sands of time continued to fall from the proverbial hourglass. The cart abruptly stopped at their destination and Kokichi backflipped himself off the cart with his hands in an amazing display of acrobatics. He landed on his feet and opened the door to the Insect Exhibit to set the stage of the final phase of this insane plan while Gonta focused on arranging the bodies just as they planned.

The venue had some sort of forest feel to it, with all the overgrowth and uneven lengths of grass. The chirping of crickets and buzzing of insects inside their respective cages could be heard but in a muffled manner. Even as prisoners in their cages, these things just don't shut up, do they? He had half a mind to sneak in here with some pesticide to finally shut them up but that was a plan for another day.

A plan to "eliminate" another fellow troublemaker, just in case _she_ decided to go in a murderous frenzy from this boring academy of mutual life.

That was something every single one of them, except for some people with bleeding hearts, all agreed upon.

They'd hold a campus-wide party just to celebrate the departure of that she-devil and strangely enough, the higher-ups wouldn't even bat an eye for this rebellious act. Of course he knows why they can't just let her go that easily.

Returning to the task at hand, Kokichi used the hanging vines to grab onto the hanging ledge to see where the hidden camera was. The ledge was the only thing that was enough to be considered a safety hazard based on school standards in this nightmarish place. One false move and the ledge would come crashing down together with the unfortunate human who decided it was a good idea to go monkey climbing in an Insect Exhibit just because it looked like a forest. He then hoisted himself up the ledge and activated the five minute timer for it to start filming. Afterwards, Kokichi jumped down from the ledge and softened his landing by grabbing one of the vines that hung from the nearby tree. He stuck another graceful landing.

"Gonta is finished with seating arrangements, Oma-kun." Gonta turned his back and reported his task to his supreme leader.

"There's one more thing I forgot actually..."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Go back to the auditorium backstage and get _him_ too. Kinda slipped my mind while we were eating. Oh, and you can grab some snacks for the "visitors" while you're at it."

Kokichi handed a key to Gonta.

"If you wanna know where he is, he's in that duralumin case that I labeled for you specifically. Use that to open it."

The husky gentleman gave a quick nod and immediately went for the exit. Kokichi then bolted towards the exit and stopped him.

"Woah woah woah! Slow down there, big fella! I'm not done yet! I'll ask you one last thing before you go, 'kay Gonta?"

"Ok! Gonta will listen to Oma-kun's question."

"No matter what happens tonight, we'll... still be friends... right? You won't hate me or anything?"

"Of course! Gonta will always be friends with everyone! Even you, Oma-kun!"

"Good. That's all I need to hear..." Kokichi then stepped away from the exit to make way for Gonta.

As soon as the other was beyond earshot, Kokichi laughed. That laughter grew louder and exploded into a hysterical laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHA! OH, HE FELL FOR IT! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Wiping the last of his tears from his eyes, he began to prepare his final act for tonight. He then pulled out that revolver from his pocket and shot the hanging ledge with a blank. A resounding boom came out from the gun and the bullet hit the ledge at its weak spot. The recoil from the revolver hurt his shoulder a little bit but he supposes that was a part in preparing for what's to come.

"...Nghhh... where...are...we...?"

Kokichi gave out one last smirk and a menacing sidelong glance before pocketing the revolver.

 _Looks like we're scheduled for an early start, huh…_

* * *

 _What a strange place..._

Chiaki woke up in one of the strangest places ever. And she had her fair share of spawning in strange places too. There was one time she was sleeping inside the bus dreaming about being a square that jumped over spikes and over great distances and she woke up beside a railroad that was coincidentally near a police station as well. Whenever these things happen, she would get terrified at first but that terror would diminish quite fast since her mind always chalked these off as a natural shock from her unfamiliar surroundings... probably.

This time, however, she couldn't make sense of how she ended up here. One second, all of them were huddled together by her flashlight and the next thing she knew after hearing a loud bang was opening her eyes and seeing a _whole_ lot of green everywhere...

...Facing a deep red panicking Hajime and sitting on his lap no less.

Instinctively, Chiaki tried to squirm out of the tight hug from the other but she couldn't. It was clear that he, too, couldn't get out. She settled to nestle herself near Hajime's body instead. There has to be a reason why they're both like this, right?

"...Nghhh... where...are...we...?" she quietly asked while burrowing herself deeper into Hajime's shoulder.

"Allow me to answer that for you, Nanami-chan!"

"…Huh?" Chiaki peeked over Hajime's shoulder to look over to whoever just called her by her name. What greeted her was an excited Kokichi who used his hands to squish her cheeks together and pull her face closer to his. She tried to move her head away but his grip was surprisingly strong. There was something eerily familiar about this… _sadistic_ look on his face - something she hated with all her heart.

" _ **You're in Hell.**_ "

Kokichi then let go of her face and moved towards the front of the room. He clapped his hands in annoying manner and shouted, "ALRIGHT, FOLKS! TIME TO GET UP!". She could hear the many groans of her classmates around her as they woke up from their deep sleep. It seems that they all fell asleep at the same time but there was something else bothering her.

Why were they tied with a rope?

She saw Hiyoko and Fuyuhiko, Kazuichi and Teruteru, Nekomaru and Peko, and Mikan who was isolated in the far corner of the room. On Hajime's side of the room, he saw Mahiru and Gundham, Sonia and Ibuki, and Akane and Byakuya. That's not the only thing she noticed. After seeing how the others were tied up, Chiaki and Hajime were the only ones tied facing each other, unlike the others who were back-to-back. Maybe their captor was too lazy to fix how they were tied?

After the others took note of their situation, the room was filled with cries of terror and complaints regarding their partner.

"What the fuck?! Why the hell am I tied up with this goddamn bitch?!"

"Can you shut up too?! You're not the only who's pissed about this, y'know?!"

"GAAAAHHHHH! I'M TIED TO THIS PERVERT! I WANT SONIA-SAAAAAAAANNN!"

"Hmhmhm! I-I can work with this...!"

"My bamboo sword... is gone?"

"Grgh! So is my chain! LET ME OUT! I NEED TO TAKE A SHIIIIIIIIT!"

"Uguuuuugyuuuu... w-w-why is it always m-meeeee?!"

"Release me this instant, you ungrateful cur! Do not test the might of Tanaka the Forbidden One!"

"Can't you take this seriously for once?! Why don't you use your hamsters to get us out of here instead of threatening him?!"

"Oma-kun, please reconsider! Why don't we resolve whatever dispute you have with us using diplomacy?"

"Grrrrrr! Ibuki does not like being tied up! Even if Ibuki's next to a cute princess like Sonia-chan!"

"Damn it! This is making me weak! How 'bout you release us and we'll fight you, huh?!"

"Are you seriously that daft? He's not going to release us if that's what you're planning to do!"

Amidst all the loud shouts and cries, Kokichi looked like he was losing his patience already. He pulled out a comically large revolver from his pocket, pointed it towards Chiaki and pulled the trigger. She flinched from the bullet that barely missed both Hajime's chin and Chiaki's cheek, marking one of her pale rosy cheeks with a wound that made red trickle down from it. Kokichi wasn't done with the gun and decided to shoot another bullet at the ceiling this time, knocking out one of the lights on top of them. The room was still bright even without that one light.

After those two extremely loud revolver shots, everyone in the room fell silent and focused their glare on the boy with the large gun on his hand. "Are you all done now?" Kokichi asked in a monotone voice, masking all the childish excitement he had earlier with grave seriousness. "I have enough bullets here to make 16 blocks of Swiss Cheese with your bodies, y'know. This is what you guys get for pissing me off earlier." The supreme leader pocketed the revolver and completely changed his current mood to a happier one. "Nishishi… I'm just kidding you guys, come on! It was a harmless pra-"

"Was shooting a bullet at Nanami a _**harmless**_ prank?" Hajime growled with a deep voice towards the grinning Kokichi. Oh yeah, she almost forgot about the wound on her cheek since it honestly didn't hurt all that much... or so she thinks.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Kokichi slapped his knee from the mad laughter that escaped his mouth. "H-How... about you... lick the wound before... you say anything stupid?" he managed to ask while holding back the laughter to speak more clearly.

"D-Don't mess with me! You just want to see me lick her, don't you?!"

"Oh? And what if that bullet had some sort of toxic substance that can be cured with saliva, Hinata-chan? Surely, you wouldn't want Nanami-chan to have an _awful_ mark on that side of her face, riiiiight~?"

"Screw you! That's a damn lie if I-"

"Just lick it for me, Hinata-kun… Please." she pleaded to the angry Hajime.

"B-But we don't know if he's lying or not!" Hajime refuted back. "He could be lying about the poison or he could be getting me to take the poison fo-"

"Then just spit it out!" both Chiaki and Kokichi shot back in sync at the shocked boy, with differing levels of pitch of course. Kokichi continued however. "Jeez, no wonder why you still don't have a talent. You just keep making stupid decisions in your life, don't you?"

"W-Why you…!"

Chiaki turned her face and glared at the supreme leader to silence him while gesturing for Hajime to start licking the marred cheek. "Don't listen to him, Hinata-kun. I promise I'll try not to be bothered by it..." she paused for another moment. "…I hope so."

He eventually relented and started to lick her cheek. Chiaki shuddered and let out an inaudible moan from the cold and slimy feeling of Hajime's tongue slathering saliva on every inch of her cheek. The other soon got his tongue to take a lick at the side of her neck.

"Nnnh…!" she shut her eyelids and sealed her mouth tight in an attempt to hide the moan that was threatening to escape her mouth as she felt that slimy object lick every part of her neck. Hajime wasn't simply licking her neck now; he was practically sucking at her neck like a vampire!

 _Calm down… I need to calm down… Hinata-kun's just trying to clean my neck. Yeah…that's probably it… I think…_

She was now getting bothered by this but she tried her best not to show it to him. Her heart was mashing buttons repeatedly at the moment, making her legs jolt uncontrollably, so she used her hands to grip Hajime's sides to calm herself down. Despite every effort to keep a calm face, she couldn't hide the warmth that spread through her cheeks from this… arousing feeling. She noticed how his hands were trembling on her hips, probably from apprehension. After all, Chiaki knew she wasn't an ice cream to be licked over and over again from all sides so she sort of understood why Hajime agreed to do this for her with some reluctance… she thinks.

What she didn't understand were the *weird* sounds that Hajime made while he was licking her cheek and neck.

"Ewwww!"

"Eughhhh! Blegh! That's disgusting!"

"Urp! Dude... stop... you're gonna make me...vomit..."

"Oh, please _do_ describe the scene _in more detail_ , Soda-kun~!"

"Goddamn it, Hinata! At least show some fucking decency while you're licking her!"

"...I am perpetually disturbed by this grotesque display..."

"Oi, cut it out already. Nanami's getting uncomfortable with your borderline sexual assault on her."

"…H-Hinata-kun…" Chiaki said while trying to keep her composure. "…A-Are you done…?"

"A-Ah…" Hajime jolted back and shook his head to break out of his dazed state. "…I'm sorry if I-I was kinda pushing it. It just tasted really good..." his tongue swirled around the edges of his lips to prove his point.

Chiaki's fears were confirmed; her friend was officially a vampire now and he just tried to suck blood out of her, but strangely enough despite her being bothered by it, she was actually elated by the fact that Hajime enjoyed the taste of her blood. "…You forgot to spit it out, Hinata-kun…" she flatly mentioned, reminding him of what he was supposed to do after he licked her.

"It was just tomato paste, Nanami…" he replied with cold indifference in his tone. Chiaki let out a disappointed sigh after knowing that Hajime was actually enjoying the taste of tomatoes and not her blood. It was a nice thought to have... maybe. "… _Just_ tomato paste; no poison added."

"Tomato paste that _I_ made, mind you…" Kokichi added after remaining silent during Hajime's do his best Lickitung impression for Chiaki in amusement. "…For all we know, I could have still added the poison in there."

Hajime sighed exasperatedly. "…With that amount, the worst you can give me is a stomachache, Oma. Just drop the act and quit playing around."

The little supreme leader gave a menacing smirk to that jaded remark. "Nishishi… don't you know that there are some poisons that can kill with just that amount? Take cyanide for example; it's found in common household items yet it's used to assassinate high-value targets like politicians and global powers. Given the clout that I have as the leader of a secret evil organization, wouldn't it be safe to assume that I am capable of doing such a horrible deed, Hinata-chan?"

"…And you'd do all that just to kill someone unimportant like me?"

Chiaki noticed how Kokichi's purple eyes glanced at hers for a brief moment before returning his gaze towards Hajime. The supreme leader started to cover his mouth with both of his hands as if he was trying to cover something inside it. He looked like he was giggling with the way he moved his body. Unable to contain whatever what was threatening to leave his mouth, Kokichi bursted out into an incredibly loud fit of laughter. The laugh was so exaggerated that his chest heaved up and down at a very fast rate. Whatever Kokichi wanted to say was replaced with a bunch HA's and HO's and HEE's.

"And just what is so laughable about his reply, you troublesome jester?" Gundham asked in his usual bravado.

Kokichi managed to calm down after an unhealthy amount of laughing. He looked at their Dark Lord straight in the eye with a straight face…

…And laughed out loud once more.

"Oh for crying out- JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION ALREADYYYY!" Nekomaru bellowed out in an annoyed yell.

"Listen to the old man, you punk! Stop laughin' and start talkin' if you don't wanna get punched in the face!"

"OH, THE IRONY IS TOO MUCH IT'S MAKING MY STOMACH HURT!" Kokichi yelled out in reply while trying to contain his hysterical laughter. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ALL CALL HIM YOUR FRIEND IF YOU CAN'T SEE THE OBVIOUS LIE IN THAT STATEMENT! HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Lie?!" Hajime parroted incredulously. "If anything, you're the liar here! You've been doing nothing but toy with our emotions and actions just for your amusement!"

"Yeah, Hajime-chan's right! Kokichi-chan doesn't have the right to call people out in their lies!"

The others soon joined in reprimanding Kokichi in their restrained state. Chiaki still hasn't opened her mouth throughout this whole ordeal and opted to think silently about Kokichi's statement about Hajime hiding a lie in his statement. Well, technically, his statement about him being unimportant is *certainly* false. He's their friend and he isn't so easily replaceable in their group. Hajime _is_ important, just as important as all of her wonderful friends. But that's what it all was - it was simply false, like how Nagito describes himself. It's all false and the both of them are great friends…

…So what was the hidden lie in his statement?

In the first place, who was the liar here, exactly? Kokichi or Hajime?

"Fine, let me ask you all this question then," Kokichi managed to completely stop his laughing fit and transform his face into a more serious one. "Who _exactly_ is the liar here?"

 _Did he read my mind?_

"It's you, obviously!" Hiyoko answered the question even with her back turned towards the supreme leader in front. The others seemed to have the same answer in mind, seeing as they all said their cheers of agreement with the dancer.

Kokichi, on the other hand, had a different answer in mind. "Wow… are you all really this stupid? Or just painfully naïve to a fault?"

"So are you saying that I'm the liar then?!" Hajime shot back in a challenging voice.

"Say, Nanami-chan." The other ignored the boy and addressed Chiaki. "Do you consider Hinata-chan as your friend?"

The answer was simple really. "Yes, of course Hinata-kun is my friend."

"And you, Hinata-chan?" Kokichi then passed his scrutinizing gaze towards Hajime. "Do you consider Nanami-chan as your friend?"

"Yes, I do. Why are you asking these obvious questions?"

Kokichi brought up his nails and examined them. "Ever heard of the saying, "It takes a liar to know a liar"? I know what you're hiding behind that very _convincing_ answer so how about you stop lying to your "friend" and tell her the truth? I'm sure she'd be more than happy to know the _real_ Hinata Hajime behind that façade you put up for her. Isn't that right, Nanami-chan?"

Chiaki tensed up in fear and started to slightly tremble again. _No no no no…that's wrong…please…be wrong…_

Hajime visibly paled from being put on the spot by Kokichi. "Sh-Shut up! D-Don't try to steer the conversation somewhere else!"

"Is that the sound of Hinata-chan admitting to lying to his "best friend" I hear?"

 _He's not lying…he's not lying…he's not…lying…_

"Oi, you better back off, you bastard." said Fuyuhiko in his threatening tone. "What did they even do to you?!"

"Oh, I don't have anything personal against Nanami-chan or Hinata-chan or any of you." Kokichi smirk widened while he was still examining his nails. "I just find it funny that you guys continue to look down on me from a higher moral ground just because I'm a liar. But I *do* wonder about what you said to me, Hinata-chan," the supreme leader tried to make conversation with his nails. "Aren't _you_ the one who's toying with human emotions and actions here? Can you really call that bond "friendship" if both parties are hiding something big from each other? Oh, and I'm not just talking about those two- no no, I'm talking about everyone in here."

Kokichi looked up and examined the look on the "fingernails" in the room. The silence and victorious smile on his lips told everything Chiaki needed to know. "Eh, doesn't really matter, does it? You guys are, like, *the* best and most tightly-knit group in this academy so it's natural that you guys trust each other, right? Hey, isn't that what friends do anyways? Shouldn't they "trust" each other? Or, at least, that's what _she_ thinks…" his eyes glanced over and stared a hole right through Chiaki's eyes that were devoid of vigor and vitality. "…Isn't that right, Nanami-chan?"

Chiaki's eyes tried to avoid the smug look on the supreme leader's face, looking at the grassy ground by her feet instead. She didn't want to answer that question because somehow, she already knew where Kokichi was planning to go with this conversation.

 _No more lies…no more lies…no more lies…no more lies…no more lies…_

 _I don't want it to be true… Please, tell me you're not lying to me Hinata-kun…_

 _…Please…_

Kokichi let out a sigh and stopped examining his nails. "Man, you guys are sooooo disappointing…and here I thought that those secrets wouldn't be enough to ruin that "friendship" that your **_pathetic_** class rep goes around saying to _**brainwash**_ Naegi-chan and Akamatsu-chan. You even got them to rebel against the academy's ideals!"

Pathetic…

Brainwash…

A scary sensation was churning inside the trembling gamer's stomach as she heard those _despicable_ and _wrong_ words. She clenched her fists and caved her body deeper inwards to contain that sensation.

Nevertheless, he continued. "Well, I always knew that that whole "friendship and magic" thing was just a crappy lie to get some frie-"

 _A…lie…? My friendship… A LIE?!_

And that was all it took for Chiaki to snap…

"THAT'S ENOUGH, OMA-KUN!"

"Nanami-san?!"

"Nanami?!"

"What the-?"

Everyone was audibly and visibly shocked by Chiaki's outburst since it was an incredibly rare sight to see from this calm and collected girl. A few tears of rage and unbridled emotions that she kept inside her for who-knows-how-long erupted out of her eyes as she faced the final boss ahead of her. Kokichi, on the other hand, let out a few quiet giggles and smiled an all-knowing smirk at the other.

She can't allow him to talk down on her and her friends like this any longer…

She can't allow him to force her back into that lonely cavern…

She won't allow him to call her efforts and actions a lie…!

"Just because my friends are hiding a few secrets from me doesn't mean that it's all just a lie! I…I understand if they aren't comfortable with sharing those horrible things since I have my own, too. But…it's normal to have some secrets, right? I will still trust them regardless until they can finally find it within themselves to let others know their secrets cuz they're my friends…" Chiaki looked over Hajime's shoulder and saw the others give their smiles of approval. With a relieved sigh, she then looked over to the grinning supreme leader and shot him with her signature angry face. "…I hope that answers your question, Oma-kun."

"Oh my God, FINALLY! Took you a while to start talking, Nanami-chan!" Kokichi threw his small arms in the air in celebration. "Now we can finally get this party started!"

"Eh? What do you mean the party has not started yet? Haven't you done enough already?!" Kazuichi replied in a half-scared-half-angry manner.

"Of course…" he paused for a moment. "…not! I can't just let my efforts of manipulating Gonta into dragging you all here for his Insect Exhibit go to waste! I spent three days preparing all of this and I'm not gonna let it end here!"

"What…did you say?" Gundham asked with a shaky tone. "Insect…Exhibit?"

"Oh? Is the "Supreme Overlord of _Mice_ " afraid of mere insects?" Kokichi teased with a voice mimicking Gundham's tone on the phrase "mere insects" and signature pose of crossing his arms minus the childlike grin on his face.

"Y-You dare continue to infuriate me!? I will incinerate you and this place to ashes with the fires of Pandaemonium if you don't release me this instant!"

"Calm down, Tanaka!" Mahiru shouted to pacify her partner. "And you, Oma! What is it that you said about manipulating Gonta?"

Chiaki saw Kokichi skip over towards the other side of the room where she can't see with the way she was tied right now. "Alrighty then! Make sure your ears are wide open cuz this is the last time I'll say this! I. Manipulated. Gonta. Into. Dragging. You. All. Here!"

"Why would you do something like that?!"

"Psshhh! Because I'm an evil supreme leader, duh! It was really easy too! All you have to do is to lie to Gonta about having some interested visitors and he'll be your mindless and gullible servant!"

"Th-This is going too far already!" Sonia interjected into their conversation. "What have we done that has motivated you to do this to us, Oma-kun?!

"Nishishi… Would you believe me if I just wanted to be your friend?"

It was clear from everyone else's multiple shouts that the answer was a no.

"Awww… Welp! It was worth a shot. Let's just wait for Gonta so we can- Ah, there he is! Welcome back Gonta!"

Kokichi returned to his original spot in front of the room and pointed his finger towards a random area in the other side of the room.

"That's...Komaeda!" Peko raised her voice after looking over to where he pointed.

"Wait, what?! What the fuck happened to that bastard?!" Fuyuhiko began to ask questions frantically as he joined the others in looking over to where he was.

"K-Komaeda-san? A-A-Are you alright!?" Mikan asked while trying to worm her body towards Nagito. Chiaki really wanted to see how he was doing but unfortunately, she can't turn her head 180 degrees. Her neck was already stiff after looking at her left for a very long period of time so she decided to rest her head on Hajime's shoulder. She didn't even notice how bad Hajime was trembling before she placed her head there. The trembling only intensified when she felt his head rest on her shoulder as well. It was almost as if he was vibrating…

"Ha…ha ha…*cough* *cough* All you symbols of hope really shouldn't bother with trash like me…" Nagito replied weakly between his coughing fits. "…I'm fine really…"

"That is simply not true, Komaeda-san! You are just as important as we are!"

"Yeah, I agree with the princess here!" Kokichi eagerly butted into the conversation he wasn't even invited in. "Without you, I wouldn't have been able crash this party! Your intel was super important, _partner_ ~!"

The others were shocked to hear that from Kokichi. Some weren't that surprised to know that Nagito and their captor were cooperating behind the scenes since they already had their doubts from the start. The shock mostly came from how bad the white-haired boy looked when he was brought in by Gonta.

 _Poor Komaeda-kun…he was betrayed by his co-op partner and used as a scapegoat for his plans…_ Chiaki thought sadly to herself. He didn't sound fine like he had stated - he sounded like he was hurt badly - physically and emotionally. _If only there was a way to escape this rope-_

"O-kay then Gonta!" Chiaki's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Kokichi's childlike voice. "I'm gonna have to leave early to get some stuff prepared for the after-party so please entertain our _lovely_ visitors who said that _they didn't like bugs_!"

"Huh?! Do visitors hate bugs?!" asked a very enraged Gonta.

"N-No wait that's not-"

"Yup yup! They _totally_ said that! They even said that they don't mind killing bugs since they're so nasty!" Kokichi said so gleefully to the gentleman. "You have to show them that bugs aren't nasty, Gonta!"

"St-Stop! D-D-Don't believe h-h-him, Gonta-san! H-H-H-He's lying!"

"Oma-kun lied just now?!"

"Of course not! I would never lie to my best friend like that. Right, Gonta?!"

"Hey! That's not what you said earlier!"

"Don't fucking believe that lying bastard, Gonta!"

"He's trying to trick you! Just look at what he did to Komaeda!"

"See, Gonta? They're all trying to make seem like the bad guy here! That means that they DON'T want to be in the Insect Exhibit!"

"JUST STOP LYING ALREADYYYYYY!"

"I'll freakin' bop ya in the head if ya listen to this kid!"

"This is a useless farce. This snake has this gentle giant's mind under his control already."

"Nishishi… I'm sooooo sorry I couldn't join you all in this wonderful Insect Exhibit but I have some errands to run…" The sound of a door opening was heard. "…See you guys later!"

Chiaki heard Kokichi slam the door shut and lock the door from the outside. The faint sound of his running footsteps gradually quieted down as he ran away from Gonta's Exhibit. The room was put in a brief moment of silence before the others started pleading to their captor.

"Gokuhara-san..." Sonia started. "...I'm afraid that I must kindly ask of you to release us. We did not consent to participating in this event and so we were dragged here against our own will. Please think this through." the princess finished in an elegant yet concise manner, befitting of her regal diplomacy.

"But..." Gonta tried to reason out with Sonia. "...Oma-kun told Gonta that there will be visitors for Insect Exhibit..."

"And you believe something that's obviously a lie?!" Hiyoko asked in complete disbelief of the gentleman's gullibility. "Ugh, great! We're stuck here with Bug Brain Co. until that gnome comes back!"

Gundham gave a low chuckle at that statement. "Fear not, mortals. For I and the Astral Capturer of Fleeting Ashes have joined forces to free us from this damning prison of woes."

"…He means that we have a plan to get us out of here and to make that guy pay for what he's done to Komaeda…" Mahiru explained to the people who didn't understand the breeder's verbose words. "…We just need to try to get Gonta over to our good side by agreeing to this… Insect Exhibit."

"Isn't there another way we can escape without having to go through this?" Peko inquired.

"Unfortunately, there are no any other methods." Gundham answered in a regretful manner. "It just so happened that we aren't on the good side of this Colossus due to our most recent outburst. That tricky devil is cunning indeed, manipulating our powerlessness and twisting the very foundation of the truth to his favor."

"Shit…" Fuyuhiko swore under his breath. "…Guess we have no choice, huh?"

"H-Hold on…! It is still of our best interests to try and reason with Gokuhara-san." Sonia tried to convince the others with her earlier suggestion. "I believe that this gentleman is reasonable enough to-"

"We can't reason our way out of this, Sonia…" Hajime cut the princess off. "…We'd be putting ourselves at a bigger disadvantage if we did. The more we try to disagree with Gonta, the more he'll insist on letting us participate in this Insect Exhibit. Oma probably already fed him a bunch of lies about us so we'll have to prove him wrong by agreeing with this. It's as what Tanaka mentioned - we already made a bad impression for Gonta. We have to win his trust if we want to stand up to Oma."

"I see… I suppose you are right in that regard, Hinata-san…" Sonia relented with a defeated tone. She then cleared her throat and addressed Gonta. "…We'll agree to see participate in this exhibit then, Gokuhara-san, but if you would, please untie us from these ropes. It is quite uncomfortable for me and my friends."

"Mhm!" Gonta hummed in agreement. "Gonta was about to do that to feed visitors with snacks from party!"

Everyone in the room made an exaggerated groan of relief as the gigantic man released them from their ropes.

Well, Nagito's was more exaggerated as usual... as exaggerated as he can currently be, given his sickly state however.

"…Ah…*cough* *cough*…such…wonderful hope. It's truly beautiful, isn't it…?"

As soon as Mikan and Nagito were untied, the former rushed over to the latter and tended to his needs. The others did so too as they carried Nagito over to the hammock by the thicket in the other side of the room that was away from its only entrance. When Chiaki and Hajime were finally released, she thought of going too but there was something else that was bothering her.

"Hinata-kun?" Chiaki pushed herself back and shifted her body to sit beside Hajime. She then looked up to his green eyes that were filled with doubt and anxiety. "Are you alright? I noticed that you weren't fine when Oma-kun pressured you… I think."

"It's…" the boy looked away from Chiaki in shame and focused on the crowd of people by Nagito's side. "…nothing important." he trailed off in abject uncertainty.

The gamer placed her hand over his and let her head rest on his shoulder once more. "…I meant what I said earlier. I still believe in my friends even if they're still hiding some things from me…" she paused for a moment and turned her neck to let her forehead rest on his shoulder instead of her head's right side. "…But you're different, Hinata-kun. For some reason, I'm scared of you. I want to trust you, I really do! But the way you smile is… scary. Even scarier than Komaeda-kun's… I think."

Hajime didn't say anything, letting silence fill the atmosphere between them. Chiaki took this moment to observe her classmates who were all taking turns taking care of the frail boy. She continued the conversation. "You two are alike, y'know? Both in a good and bad sense. Komaeda-kun always likes to risk his life to make sure that the others are happy cuz he thinks that he doesn't deserve to be with us. While I don't agree with the way he thinks, I can't help but see the same thing with you, Hinata-kun…" she lifted her head only to notice that Hajime was still looking at them before putting it back down. "…I can't help but feel that you're risking something just to make me happy. I don't want that. I don't want to see my friends suffer just to please me as their class rep and the same goes with you. I want all of us to be happy in a…" she made another pause to think of a better term to portray what she meant. "…sort of mutual way. Get what I mean?"

Silence…

"Hinata-kun… were those times you spent playing video games with me just a lie to make me feel less lonely?"

More silence…

…And her heart sank just as her voice did…

"So… it's true then, huh? It was…all just a lie…like how Oma-kun said it was…"

"…I didn't say that, Nanami. I was just thinking about what you said. About how Komaeda and I are alike…"

"…How about what I asked you earlier?"

Hajime moved his body and lifted Chiaki's head for her to gaze at his soft eyes. His thumb was slowly wiping the wet side of her cheek as he replied. "It wasn't a lie. It's just… there's been a lot on my mind lately…"

"Would you mind telling me so I can help you?" she asked, feeling a bit frustrated at herself for not helping him when he needed it. "I want to help, as a friend…"

Hajime _smiled_. "Well, I don't need any help now. I found my answer already."

Chiaki lunged at him and embraced the other. "Promise me you won't do anything dangerous, ok? I'll always be happy with you playing games with me, and I'll try my best to make you happy too, ok? I don't wanna be scared of trusting you anymore, Hinata-kun." she said in a quick manner, rapidly firing off statement after statement of reassurances as an effect of her mind in disarray from the emotional high she's feeling right now.

Hajime returned the hug and rubbed circles on her back as a gesture of comfort. This helped her a bit... probably. "I'll…keep that in mind, Nanami."

On second thought, it did help her. A lot.

Chiaki smiled and hugged Hajime a lot tighter. "Thank you, Hinata-kun…"

 _Thank you… for proving me wrong._

Never had she felt any gladder that all those worrisome thoughts were just lies…

* * *

They continued to enjoy their moment of ignorant bliss until the two eventually released each other from the hug and stood up to check on Nagito. When they did see him, he really did look worse for wear like how the others had described it with their panicked voices. He looked even skinnier, paler and weaker than his usual self. Even his one-thousand-watt-bright smile became dimmer.

Nagito's light grey eyes then moved to see his new visitors. Chiaki heard something come out of his mouth, probably a chuckle, before closing in eyes to rest peacefully.

"Komaeda-kun…" she started with a very concerned expression on her features. "…What happened to you?"

The white-haired boy reopened his eyes and fluttered over to hers, as if there was something he found beautiful behind her concerned-looking eyes. "…My apologies for making you worry about useless garbage, Nanami-san." he stated, still with a quiet voice. "Haha… I wish I could die from self-loathing for betraying my classmates like this…*cough* *cough*"

"Please don't push yourself, K-Komaeda-san!" wailed Mikan as she ran over to his side to let him drink something from a spoon. The other accepted the offering in reluctance and swallowed the syrupy liquid. "Y-You need to have some rest to regain back the energy you lost."

"Wait a minute, "betraying my classmates"? What do you mean by that?" Hajime decided to ask about what he just said.

"…I didn't mean to include you in that group, Hinata-kun." the white-haired boy replied in a scornful way. "What gives you the right to think of yourself as an equal to the other Ultimates? You're just a Res-"

"Don't try to dance around the topic by looking down at me, Komaeda." he cut the other off with a sharp spat. "At least tell Nanami about what Oma meant when he said that your intel was crucial for this."

Nagito merely scoffed at that reply and changed his tone for Chiaki, who was giving him a very soft glare. "...I simply gave Oma-kun what he wanted from me. Of course, I can't not withhold anything that an Ultimate wants from me; I am beneath them after all."

"Does that explain how he just so happens to know my secret?" Hajime butted in the conversation with a question.

Nagito pretended he didn't hear her friend…she thinks. Chiaki decided to repeat the question for her friend.

"Of course! It was all for the sake of **hope** , Nanami-sa- *cough* *cough* *cough*" his deranged rambling was cut off by dry coughs that made him jerk his body up every time he did. Mikan asked for a cup of water from their gentlemanly captor and she quickly let Nagito drink from it after receiving the water. The white-haired boy seemed to have felt better... probably.

"But why Hinata-kun specifically?" Chiaki asked in a very confused manner. "He hasn't done anything wrong, has he?"

"…I'm not the right person to ask that question to." Nagito answered with a wry smile.

"Can't you just answer the question, Komaeda-kun?"

"…I suppose," Nagito looked over to the others who were busy having their snacks. "I can at least tell you what I know if that's what you want, Nanami-san." he then returned his gaze over to hers and took a deep breath. "I told Oma-kun about the many things we all discussed for the party and I decided to tell him what I found about the personal lives of all you Ultimates, including Hinata-kun's, since he was very insistent about it." he then let out a sad sigh of sorts before smiling once more. "Haha, I know. Not only am I a useless waste of space but I'm also a selfish traitor. Please feel free to despise me whenever you-"

"And you didn't know what he was planning?"

"I simply thought that Oma-kun might have been "borrowing" our ideas for their very own party at the time…"

"Humph!" Chiaki puffed her cheeks out at Nagito for dancing around the question again with vague answers. She was getting frustrated with his persistent evasion. She could just give up her questioning for now since she already knows how Kokichi was able to make this all happen. "Fine then. Let's just drop the topic for now…" she grumbled to herself as she forcefully pulled Hajime by the arm to get some snacks.

 _I'll get you someday though, Komaeda-kun. Mark my words!_ Chiaki thought to herself, hatching a plot to punish Nagito by beating him a thousand times in Super Smash Brawl for frustrating her. _…That and for making Hinata-kun feel stressed._

* * *

As the night turned into midnight, the others were starting to get sleepy. Strange, considering that they all just woke up from getting gassed in the auditorium. Did the effects linger? Chiaki simply shrugged to herself as she took a tiny bite from her fried dough cookie, which, to everybody's surprise, was being hoarded by Peko, as evident with the 3 small boxes being balanced on her hand.

No one decided to question it though… Everyone had their weird sides when it came to things they like; the video game enthusiast knew this feeling very well. Maybe this stoic swordsman actually had a soft spot for fried dough cookies?

"It getting late now…" Gonta remarked sheepishly as he checked the time by looking outside a window. "…Gonta should start Insect Exhibit since bugs will be asleep soon."

Right, there was that too…

The group wasn't too keen on the idea of this Insect Exhibit; well, not that she would know the reason why. She never really knew much about bugs except for the fact they somehow make you scratch your skin when they touch it. As if on instinct, Chiaki covered a part of her exposed left arm with her right hand and started to rub down on it. She had this weird compulsion for no reason to rub her left arm - it just felt really itchy.

It was *really* itchy… Why did it feel so itchy?

"Might as well start it now so we can get it over with." Byakuya suggested while devouring multiple dishes as his "midnight snack". Chiaki looked away and tried to finish her singular cookie since she was beginning to lose her appetite. It was really strange how seeing someone eat food with such vehemence could make you not want to eat.

And all the gamer ever ate for dinner was a pork bun and a fried dough cookie…

Well, she wasn't planning to eat much anyways. She just wished she could enjoy the food without all these wild events. She had enough of those happening at her classroom everyday.

Gonta gestured everyone to be at their proper places in the kindest way possible. Even some of the more rebellious Ultimates complied with his kind requests and showed a very scarce display of discipline for the titanic man. Maybe they decided to turn over a new leaf?

As soon as everyone was at their designated spots, they patiently waited for the exhibit to start. In the face of all this, Gonta scratched the back of his head in confusion and diffidently said, "Gonta does not know how to start Insect Exhibit…".

"It would be preferable if you proceeded to what you think is the most important part of this Exhibit, Gokuhara-san." recommended Sonia with a pretty and innocent smile.

He nodded affirmatively and went to the large shelf at the eastern side of the room. Upon closer inspection, Chiaki could see the hordes of various insects caged inside numerous transparent cases. The compulsion to scratch on her arm with her nails was becoming harder to resist all while a teardrop of nervous sweat was sliding down the side of her head.

This can't be an allergic reaction, can it?

Mikan recommended everyone to apply some kind of ointment that she got from Gonta on their skin so that the insects would not cause severe irritation on it. She took the liberty of examining the suspicious bottle for everyone before handing it over. So far, no one has shown any signs of any allergic reaction to the ointment nor the insects; that is, no one except Chiaki. When she did inquire about the treatment, the nurse reassured her that any sort of allergic reaction from that ointment would become noticeable instantly. She said that her skin would become bumpy, swollen and itchy. Thankfully, Chiaki didn't have any of those ugly-sounding symptoms.

So what was with this itchy feeling on her arm?

The confused gamer glanced around her surroundings to gauge everyone's reactions of the amount of bugs being kept inside those cases. Most of them seemed naturally scared about it. Chiaki, too, was scared of bugs, but not these kind of bugs. The ones that she was afraid of were the game-breaking ones and the ones that were MUCH larger and more infinite; you know, the kind that would be able to conquer a planet by sheer numbers? She wonders if those bugs are capable of doing the same thing though…

Even with all these thoughts on her mind, Chiaki remained as calm as possible and waited for their captor to start the Exhibit. The group waited for what seems like a minute, watching Gonta maneuver around the multiple shelves and cases before pulling them towards the center of their line of vision. The center of everyone's attention was on the two shelves that housed all the buzzing chirps.

Yep, that's a lot of bugs…

"These b-bugs won't k-kill us or anything, right?" Kazuichi asked in a trembling voice.

"Of course not!" Gonta replied. "Bugs are friends. Friends would not kill other friends."

"Th-Then… Bug-chan will stay in those cases, right?" Ibuki asked, sharing the same trepidation of Kazuichi's voice. "Cuz Ibuki's not sure about meeting Gonta-chan's friends…"

"Insect Exhibit is for everyone to be friends with bugs! Visitors will meet bugs and bugs will meet visitors! That way, bugs and visitors will become best friends." the entomologist then placed his hand on one of the cases. "Now then, let us start Insect Exhibit!"

"It was nice…knowing all you losers, I guess… Except Mahiru-nee of course!"

"Dumbass! Like hell are we gonna die in this shithole!"

With that being said, Gonta opened all those cases one by one and the Hell that Kokichi told Chiaki that they were in became the truth. Swirling black legions of flying and crawling creatures approached the group and the room was later filled with mixtures of terrified human screams and excited bug noises. Some people stayed in groups to fend off the assault, while some people who weren't part of any group frantically ran around the room to escape.

Peko stood by Fuyuhiko's side and made sure that no bug would try to do anything funny to them. Even without her bamboo sword, her presence managed to stave off any creature from her. She didn't manage to scare them off completely as they only tried to keep a safe distance from the two people in black.

Akane and Nekomaru stood back-to-back in a fighting stance to shoo away any approaching critters. Normally, they would've been unsuccessful since the bugs were tiny and no normal person had any crowd control skills like Peko's Intimidation skill; but they weren't just normal people, this was about Akane and Nekomaru - a combination of electrifying agility and endurance. With the way they moved, they danced around each other like two raging winds forming a persistent hurricane, blowing away every unfortunate and insignificant insect from them.

There were others who weren't so averse to the bugs, like Nagito, Sonia and Gundham. Both Nagito and Sonia even let those bugs crawl all over them. Gundham, on the other hand, did not mind them buzzing around him. In fact, it looked like he was the one who was controlling the bugs, given the victorious smirk on his face and bold stance. The bugs hovered around him, forming a real dark aura around him as he walked around the room with a booming and challenging laughter.

Well, those were all the people who had no problem with surviving this exhibit. As for the others…

"AAAAGHHHHH! GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OFF!"

"St-Stay back…or I'll sq-squish all of you…!

"Don't do it, Hiyoko-chan! He'll get mad at you if you try to kill them!"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE IBUKI WHO'S DOING THE CHASING, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUUUUUNNNNDDD!"

"Tch! How much longer do we have to endure this?!"

"No no no no no! Dr. No says no- Ack! Bad touch! Bad touch!"

 _Yeah, they can probably hold their own…_ Chiaki thought to herself. _…I think._

Mikan was nowhere to be found but her very distinct crying sounds could be heard nearby. Chiaki looked over to where the crying was coming from and saw an extremely large hump of bugs covering something like a fuzzy dark blanket-

Oh…so that's where Mikan was. She must have tripped from running around frantically then completely devoured by the bugs.

Wasn't that…a bad thing?

Brushing off the bugs on her legs, she walked on over to the large pile of black that was covering the bawling nurse and moved her hand in a swiping motion to drive away them off of her, like how she would clean the screens of her consoles. It…kinda worked in the end and Mikan was now free from those bugs. Chiaki crouched down near her and gestured to help her up but the other made no approaches of accepting it, opting to quake on the spot and sob uncontrollably.

The concerned Chiaki looked up to find the others. She accounted for everyone else except for Hajime. In most 3-5 player co-op games, inexperienced players must always stick together, most especially for these types of levels. Sure, there were others who can solo this mission, like the three people who were enjoying this Insect Exhibit, but he wasn't one of those types of players yet…probably. Now, the gamer was faced with an incredibly difficult dilemma of choosing which inexperienced player to abandon to help the other. It was already apparent that Mikan can't do anything without being covered by a swarm of insects and bugs while Hajime can probably hold his own but with great difficulty.

But, she can't just abandon him again… Not after leaving him alone by the fountain because of her recklessness.

However, if she leaves Mikan alone, she might get hurt…

Chiaki had a feeling that this was all planned out somehow. The big bad boss must have took advantage of her tendency to protect others and use it against her.

 _This is super difficult…_

Fortunately, after a few seconds of glossing over multiple scenarios, Chiaki had a good strategy in mind. "I'm sorry for forcing this on you, Tsumiki-san…" she apologized to Mikan then used all of her strength to scoop her up from the ground. Mikan squealed in surprise while Chiaki continued. "…But I have to make sure everyone's safe."

With the nurse on her arms, she ran around the area to search for the elusive Hajime.

* * *

 _Holy cow… these things are… a lot heavier than I thought…_

Under the quiet and cloudless dark sky, late at night, a shadowy little troublemaker was struggling to move a cart twice his size and a bajillion times heavier than he is. It didn't help that the cart wasn't made to traverse the unpaved road towards the Insect Exhibit. Even so, he questioned how _she_ was able to carry all these equipment to those events.

Seriously, all she does is twiddle her fat little fingers on some buttons yet someone like _her_ was able to _carry_ all these?! Even *someone* as athletic and healthy as Kokichi was having a difficult time _pulling_ these things on a freaking cart!

"ARGHHH! SCREW IT!" he screamed in frustration out into the dead of night and took one of the video game consoles with both his hands then raised it high up in the air. However, after a few deep breaths, he decided against breaking the console in two. If he was going to use his strength, he'd rather much use it on pulling this Atua-damned cart.

Besides, much more valuable things will be broken after this…

Kokichi continued to sluggishly move the over-9000-ton cart over towards the Insect Exhibit. He kept repeating the words, "It'll all be worth it in the end…" to himself if his body decided to tire out on this.

* * *

It had been about an hour since Gonta started the Insect Exhibit. Everyone came into this mission horribly unprepared. No one would've expected to be forced to survive an Insect Exhibit when they all planned to have a simple yet fun party. Despite all of Chiaki's efforts to survive, she was starting to get tired from keeping the bugs off her body. There were just too many of them for her party members to handle; not only that, but these bugs had a plethora of stat debuffs to make it even more difficult.

Chiaki wished that the unknown time limit would come to an end soon. She might pass out from fatigue again if she had to survive another ten minutes of constant pest control. Drooping herself in exhaustion, she then decided to just lie down on the grassy bed and recover her HP and energy points.

She was tired… So tired and sleepy…

...Sleep? That seemed like a good idea… probably.

Chiaki's eyelids began to pull down from their heavy weight and let the darkness surround every corner of her vision. She drifted off to a dreamy sleep. She'll just leave it all to the very reliable Hajime to make sure that they don't **fail the mission**.

Sure, there were some bugs and insects all over her body and it felt really itchy and sort of ticklish on her skin, but right now, sleep was more important - more important than any other human need fathomable.

Her other senses had started to shut down and as they did, the faint and distant screams and pleas of her other classmates had faded into a soothing chiptune melody that she set to play whenever her laptop displayed the screensaver. If she had to describe it in an excruciatingly detailed manner, there was this one time when she described the melody to Ibuki. She corrected her and said that it sounded more like a boring tune to play in a waiting room lounge or some lame royalty-free elevator music for a company that has an extremely stingy budget for entertainment. Chiaki was slightly offended by that disparaging comparison on her "main menu soundtrack" but she will admit that the first one seemed more accurate. It does play when her mind goes to the waiting room lobby after going to "screensaver mode".

How else could she describe Terraria's Night theme anyway?

The melody continued to play and her sense of reality warped into a land of dreams. Chiaki hoped that there won't be an evil person or hydra in this dream for once...

* * *

"Knock knock!~" Kokichi rapped on the door with one hand while the other fished out the keys for said door. "Papa's hooooome!~" and he's brought treats for the them too!

He played around the door's lock with the key he had with him, twisting and turning it in a way like he was trying to break the lock's mechanisms just for the heck of it. After the mischievous little rascal heard a click from the door, he took a step back then proceeded to shift his weight on his grounded foot to kick the "barricade" down like in those action movies. As if on instinct he pulled out his revolver and tried to satiate the itch of his trigger finger by firing the gun repeatedly before remembering that he hasn't reloaded the gun yet; this fact was ascertained by the light sounds from the revolver's chamber spinning. Kokichi didn't notice the eerie silence in the room because he was still pulling the trigger on the revolver.

With uncertain eyes, he looked towards where he was pointing the gun's long barrel at...

...And he noticed a red splotch of tomato paste on Gonta's forehead...

 _Oh shit!_

Kokichi hastily shoved the revolver back into his pocket, hoping that the shock of his arrival would erase that "bloodstain" in Gonta's head. The serenity of the room soon got to him so he exited the room and came back with the large cart of goodies in hand - the goodies being a bunch of video game consoles and cartridges for the warmup session before the metaphorical axe comes to sever their bonds. Beneath all those goodies were a bunch of nasty surprises.

Well, Kokichi had a plan for how this night was gonna go but as fate would have it, things started to NOT go according to plan…

"Oma-kun… was what visitors saying true?" Gonta asked after returning back to Earth. "Did you…lie to Gonta?"

"Ughhhh…" Kokichi groaned in annoyance. "…How many times do I have to tell you? I don't lie to my-"

"Then explain this!" Mahiru held her camera up to play recording of a very familiar conversation he had with the group while Gonta was still absent.

 _"Calm down, Tanaka! And you, Oma! What is it that you said about manipulating Gonta?"_

 _"Alrighty then! Make sure your ears are wide open cuz this is the last time I'll say this! I. Manipulated. Gonta. Into. Dragging. You. All. Here!"_

 _"Why would you do something like that?!"_

 _"Psshhh! Because I'm an evil supreme leader, duh! It was really easy too! All you have to do is to lie to Gonta about having some interested visitors and he'll be your mindless and gullible servant!"_

Clever girl…

Kokichi masked the smirk that was trying to stretch his face by acting nervous. All he managed was a bead of sweat to roll down his forehead. "Oh c-c'mon, guys! Th-That could've been e-edited for-"

"You've got that wrong!"

The supreme leader slightly flinched from that sharp declaration and accusatory pointer finger from Hajime. He didn't expect this random talentless NPC to stand up against him. His sweat now came more naturally than the first since he was starting to get nervous.

"Koizumi's camera can only record or take pictures! Also, it's not just a recording of you saying that, but you were filmed in this place while saying that, so that means this footage couldn't have been edited beforehand!"

"Ah crap…" Kokichi started to slowly back away from the others before bumping into two large bodies that were barricading his only exit. He turned around and saw Nekomaru and the larger Byakuya towering over him.

"No use trying to weasel out of this one, Oma." the Ultimate Team Manager warned. He then proceeded to crack his knuckles and gaze at him with subtle killing intent. "It's time you paid for your BULLSHIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

With a slightly panicked face, his eyes darted around the room, thinking fast for a way to escape the sixteen people, Gonta included of course, that were slowly zeroing in on his position. If they caught him, he would have to taste the same medicine he forcefully fed them and he, by all means possible, wanted to avoid that.

His eyes were fixed on the cart that he just wheeled in. In front of that cart from his position was a furious-looking Gonta who was thinking of vaulting over the contraption to tackle him down to the ground. Just beyond him was an opening for his escape towards the maze-like hallway that acted as a mini-warehouse for "exhibits" like this. That cart was his only saving grace from Insect Hell; all he had to do was to jump over his only opening and run towards that warehouse.

Kokichi approached the cart and grabbed its side with both of his hands, preparing to dodge the first tackle from Gonta.

Now, all it takes is a little push to the right side...

"Nishishi... Oh well..." Kokichi sighed before looking at the gigantic gentleman with villainous eyes. "...The cat's outta the bag, huh? You're too naïve for your own good, Gonta. I mean, look around you!" he addressed the others in the room by glancing at them. "How stupid are you to assume that there would even be visitors for this shitshow anyways? If they were really interested, they wouldn't even have tried to put me on the spot. Those _liars_ are no better than me!"

"What, so just because we lied to Gonta, that makes you more righteous than we are?" Hajime challenged the other with his own argument. "We didn't manipulate him with lies. That was all you! You lied to him by saying we were interested in this Insect Exhibit!"

"Who said that I had the higher moral ground, Hinata-chan?" Kokichi shot back with a question of his own. "Since people hate lies so much, a lie, even if it was told with good intentions, is still bad - just like how murder is still murder no matter how much you justify it. Neither of us in here has the right to say who is the more righteous. In the end, we all told our lies to manipulate Gonta, although in your case, its more like..." he paused to think of a good follow-up. "...Self-preservation, isn't it? You all just wanted to get back at me for forcing this _horrifying_ experience upon you all, riiiight?~"

"Alright, that's the last time you talked shit to us, bastard! Rush him!"

Everyone except for the people blocking the entrance tried to tackle him. Expecting this offensive strategy, he used his hands to push himself high up in the air, high enough to flip over Gonta's spear tackle and land behind his original position. Since the others missed him, some of them crashed towards the cart while the more dangerous potential pursuers were on the receiving end of the tackle and were effectively knocked out. The people who were able enough to give chase were Gundham, Fuyuhiko and Hajime. Kokichi flipped them off and sprinted towards the maze-like warehouse. "Nishishi... CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, LOSERS!"

"Damnit! You're not escaping this time, Oma!"

"Fuhahahaha! Run while you still can! The hawk will eventually catch the snake no matter how far it slithers away!"

"I'll make sure to fucking rip that lying tongue through your teeth!"

* * *

 _"Nishishi…"_

Chiaki's body became heavier - the weight of utter disappointment pulling her head and shoulders down. Wasn't it too much to ask for a good dream for once? She's had enough of having to hear that schadenfreude-like giggle and to see that sadistically toothy grin every time she closed her eyes.

 _I don't feel like waking up from another nightmare again…_ Chiaki thought to herself as she willed herself to awaken. With a long yawn and some removing of eye crusts, she was able to open her eyes. She sat up from her position and noticed that there weren't any bugs on her this time. Did the time limit finally end?

After booting her other senses back up, she didn't hear any terrified screams or booming shouts or laughter anymore…

…Not only that, all the bugs and insects were suddenly removed from the area… Along with everyone else…

…What's going on?

Chiaki stood up and scanned the area around her. She could definitely see that she was still at the area of the Insect Exhibit albeit at a different part from where she lied down. The last place where she fell asleep was in a big open area, surrounded by her classmates, which was near the entrance or exit. There was one here but it was further from her than she remembered, plus the area was certainly smaller than the last, she thinks. It was most likely that she was carried here by someone while she was sleeping.…maybe. Upon examining the ground where she woke up on, the gamer noticed that she was resting on a real grassy bed under a large shade. This might've been why she woke up without being disoriented by the lights. She made it a mental note to thank whoever placed her here.

Still in a persisting state of confusion, she stumbled her way towards-

 _Wait a minute…_ Chiaki stopped in her tracks, realizing something important that flew over her head ever since she woke up tied next to Hajime. _…Where's my stuff?_

She re-examined the area around her - this time in more detail. She searched every nook and cranny, suspicious and not suspicious, and left no stone unturned. Even with all those minutes of searching, she came up with no traces of her catpack that held all her gaming necessities. The gamer felt her spirit being forcefully pulled out of her body. All those days of progress and years spent raising her virtual cities and communities…

 _My games… Why would people steal my precious games…?_

What…was this terrible feeling of loss?

It wasn't hope. That much she was sure of.

Anger flared up from her insides. She'll find those games and give that no-good thief a beating. She stomped her way out of the room, her shoes mercilessly crunching the grass beneath her which symbolized how she was going to beat this horrible person down to a pulp. She thought of extending the scope of her search to the entire academy. Chiaki wouldn't simply give up precious years of grinding and 100%-ing games.

She gripped the handle of the door but didn't open it. She heard multiple footsteps just beyond this wall as well as a few familiar voices that spoke in a way that she would never mistaken. She identified three of the voices belonging to Gundham, Fuyuhiko and Kokichi. Maybe they know where her things are?

Controlling the rage that was boiling within her, Chiaki opened the door as gently as she can and felt someone tackle her from her left side as she stepped out into the dark hallway. Both of their bodies crashed into the door, pushing it towards the wall. The gamer yelped from the immense shock that coursed through her back.

 _Owww…not again…_

"Alright…We finally…got you." Fuyuhiko panted but his threatening tone didn't escape his voice as he brandished a knife on both of them. "I'm gonna enjoy…cutting…this…bitch open…!"

"N-N-Nanami-chan!" Kokichi yelled out as he hugged the other for protection- though, it looked more like he was the one protecting her. "Th-They're gonna kill me!"

"While I would very much like to eviscerate you to see your insides pool out," Gundham spoke in a tone that was darker and colder than his usual one. "I will propose a better act of vindication for this faux supreme overlord. You there!" the breeder addressed someone who Chiaki can't see from Kokichi's unkempt hair blocking her view. "Bind him with the strings of fate that I sent you to gather." he then let out a low cackle. "We shall let him suffer the same fate we went through!"

Hajime eventually came into her line of sight with rope in hand and tried to pry the clingy supreme leader off of her body. Kokichi became more desperate and clung deeper into Chiaki's body to the point where he was squeezing the life out of her.

"Let her go already!" Hajime emphasized every word with a forceful pull that only hurt the human teddy bear even more. "You're making this worse for the both of you!"

"Well, I don't wanna go!" Kokichi whined in response. "Nanami-chan is the only friend I have left in this world where no one trusts me!"

"That's it! We don't have time…for your bullshit, bastard!" Fuyuhiko pushed Hajime aside and slashed Kokichi's back with his knife. The latter shrieked at Chiaki's ear and relented long enough for Hajime to pull him off. The gamer was finally able to breathe easily after a few heavy pants for some air. Sitting up from her position, she saw a teary-eyed Kokichi bound with some rope and gagged by the mouth with some duct tape.

Fuyuhiko pocketed his knife that was somehow clean from the slash and let his violent rage subside, not to be mistaken with completely vanish mind you. "…So you're telling me, we're gonna let Gonta do whatever he wants to this kid?! Have you forgotten what he can do to that idiot just by opening his mouth?! Not only that, but this brat's slippery as hell!"

"Yeah, but Gonta's just as fast, maybe even faster." Hajime argued. "Trust me. Nanami's seen just how quickly he caught up to me when I tried to run away from the exhibit. Plus, I don't think Oma can just change Gonta's mind again with his lies since he already knows his opinion about insects…"

"Hm…" Gundham thoughtfully hummed in agreement. "…A convincing remark. He and I shall go on ahead and deliver this foul demon to his fate then. You, on the other hand," his eyes glanced over to Fuyuhiko's then unto Chiaki's. "Shall bear the responsibility of ensuring that our class rep leaves this accursed place safe and sound. It is quite apparent that she is…disoriented from these recent events and might not know her sense of direction."

Chiaki was mildly surprised by Gundham's considerate words. She stood up and smiled at the breeder. "…Thank you for caring about me, Tanaka-kun."

The breeder scoffed at her kind gesture of gratitude and hastily signaled for Hajime to carry the squirming Kokichi with both their shoulders. "…I do not need your invaluable thanks, mere mortal. I simply thought ahead to skip the others' noisy inquisitions about your unknown whereabouts."

Yep, same as ever…

As the two strolled further away from them, Fuyuhiko tapped her shoulder and gestured for her to follow him towards the opposite direction.

"Umm…" Chiaki mumbled confusedly while focusing her gaze elsewhere. "…Shouldn't we follow them towards the exit, Kuzuryu-kun?"

"Yeah yeah, we'll get to that in a sec…" the yakuza heir brushed her question off with a wave of his hand. "…I just need your help with something. It's pretty important."

"…You need my help with something important?"

"Just shut up and follow me, alright?! Oh and before you ask, it's not some illegal stuff so relax."

Trying to stifle a yawn after hearing the word "relax", Fuyuhiko marched forward while Chiaki mindlessly followed. The two were silent all throughout the journey in this dark dungeon. The gamer thought of breaking away from her current quest to find a torch. Not that she could though even if she wanted, she felt like she was locked to this cutscene and abandoning the storyline might break the world…she guesses.

Chiaki had an urge to open her mouth and ask if Fuyuhiko knows where her things are but he was just too fast for her to catch up so they can have a pleasant conversation. She knows she could've just yelled it at him but she really didn't feel like it. She decided to ask him after they were done with whatever they were supposed to do.

The pair eventually arrived at the doorstep of a large storage closet. Fuyuhiko approached it and opened the closet, revealing what looks like video game loot in Chiaki's eyes.

He did say they weren't going to do anything illegal, right?

"Nanami, could you grab the cart over there in that room?" Fuyuhiko pointed towards the room opposite to the other room adjacent to the storage closet.

Chiaki replied with a slow "Ok…" and entered the small room that shared the same forest feel with the last two areas she woke up in. Finding the cart, she wheeled it out of the room and returned to Fuyuhiko, who was patiently waiting for her. Afterwards, he proceeded to fill the cart up with the video game loot that upon a second glance, she noticed it consisted of a number of items that belonged to her classmates.

"These are ours, right Kuzuryu-kun?"

"Take a fucking guess, dumbass…"

Chiaki assumed that these were theirs and racked through the loot in hopes of finding her missing items. Still no signs of her precious cartridges and consoles, much to her chagrin…

"…Looks like they're not here either…" the gamer remarked, disheartened by her insufficient findings.

"What, you mean that video game junk?" Fuyuhiko interjected with a little laugh of mockery at the end. "While you were sleeping, that goddamn brat barged in with a cart full of 'em!" he then slowed down in loading the cart up. "…But yeah, it's weird, ain't it? I mean, our stuff's right here but yours wasn't." he finished transporting all the "goods" then placed a firm hand on Chiaki's shoulder.

"…Listen, Nanami…" he started with a very serious tone. "…I don't know if it's just me but that kid's got his eyes set on you. I still don't believe the bullshit he spouts about him being the leader of some organization but even I gotta admit, he's got the guts to be one."

"…I'm afraid I don't understand what you're trying to imply here, Kuzuryu-kun. From what I see, I think he just wants to be our friend."

"Are you _fucking_ serious right now? Don't tell me you-"

"I am."

"Didn't you notice what he was trying to do?! Who the hell in the world would gas us, manipulate that big shit-for-brains to tie us up, and fucking try to _shoot_ you with a damn revolver if they only want to be "friends"?! Not only that, but he was close to exposing whatever Hinata's hiding from us if you hadn't spoken up! Tell me now if you still think he wants to be friends with us!"

"But that's what you think, isn't it? All he did was just play around with some harmless pranks. The worst thing he's ever done to us was to get us to doubt our friendship…at least, I think so. Even so, I wouldn't call his actions as a way of being evil for the sake of being evil. I…understand what he was trying to say to some degree…I think…"

"Then, how about Komaeda?! After what he's done to the guy, can you really say for sure that Oma is *not* evil?!"

Chiaki was at a loss for words. How could she forget about what happened to Nagito? Kokichi trusted the white-haired boy to assist him in his goals then later betrayed that trust by putting him in that unfortunate state. He was so close to death, but he looked…happy about it? No matter, Chiaki wasn't one to forgive killing. What Kokichi had done to Nagito was something she couldn't forgive either, regardless of how much he would try to justify his actions.

Betrayal or treachery was akin to hacking in video games - one of the worst sins a gamer can commit.

"…I'll try to talk to Oma-kun about it then…"

"…You do realize that you're gonna talk to a professional liar, right? Like hell are you gonna get him to talk!"

"But you said that he has his "eyes on me", right? That would mean that he's interested in me…I think…"

Fuyuhiko clicked his tongue and decided to take his frustrations out on the cart by pushing it towards wherever they came from. Chiaki heard him mouth something off to her but she didn't quite understand it. Before she could ask however, he asked in a loud voice, "You coming or what?"

And just like that, Chiaki forgot the serious conversation they just had and continued on their main quest.

* * *

After another pleasantly quiet stroll through the dark halls of the Forest Dungeon, the last of the people who went in there came out and joined the others. As much as Chiaki wanted to rejoin her friends, her eyes were fixed on the cart of very familiar-looking cartridges and consoles. She slowly approached it with abject curiosity but mild wondrous excitement and examined each and every one of them.

…There's no doubt about it, these were her belongings that she left inside her room along with the stuff she brought for the party. For a second, she was fooled into thinking she came across every gamer's treasure trove. She couldn't mistake the smell and unique texture of each and every one of them. Those were tells that that specific object is hers.

...Now that she thought about it, maybe what the others said about her being weird was...pretty weird as well. They said that things tend to fly over her head or that she completely missed the point - case in point, the fact that she forgets things she lost but can accurately identify every object she owns.

 _...I'm probably thinking about it too much..._ Chiaki pondered to herself, continuing to rummage through her pile of video games and consoles. _...I think..._

Amidst all the goodies, the gamer found her long lost catpack with all her portable gaming necessities still intact and miraculously untouched by anyone else except her. Pulling it out under all the rubble of polystyrene and metal, Chiaki now strapped her pack on her shoulders, giving her an effective toy to fiddle even without her hood.

After examining the cart, she heard someone clear their throat from behind her. Her attention successfully diverted, Hajime approached her and asked if she was done and needed help to transport her belongings back to the dorms. Chiaki answered with a curt "Yes", traces of shame riddled in her voice but went unnoticed by her spiky-haired buddy.

Satisfied with her response, Hajime called out for Peko. He didn't even say anything to her but the stoic swordswoman immediately understood his request and wheeled the cart out of the room without hesitance. Mahiru was noticeably upset by Hajime's unreliability and berated him for sending a woman to do a boy's job. He simply rolled his eyes and grumbled to himself.

"There's just no way to satisfy everyone no matter what I do…"

Chiaki heard this and defended Hajime. "…At least Hinata-kun asked if I needed help with that. It would be even weirder if a boy entered the girl's dorms with a cart of my stuff…I think."

"Yeah…" Mahiru sighed in defeat, relenting to Chiaki's sound logic. "…I guess you're right."

"Now that everything's been settled with," Fuyuhiko stepped in suddenly with a new topic for discussion. "Can we head back now? I want some damn peace and quiet after this bullshit of a party."

"Kuzuryu-san! The party that we all prepared for is certainly not "bullshit"!" Sonia jumped in and corrected the yakuza before softening her tone. "But sadly, I do believe that we are all "pooped" from this disastrous evening."

Chiaki noticed how some of her classmates groaned loudly after hearing the princess say "pooped". Sonia coughed louder than those groans to silence the crowd and continued. "It would be best if we were to settle this mess that Oma-san created the next day instead. We cannot resolve this matter in our current state."

Everyone else voiced their agreement on Sonia's advice. Hearing this, she turned towards Gonta and bade him farewell. Their gentlemanly captor thanked them all for participating in the Insect Exhibit and granted them their most sought freedom. The whole class practically rushed out of the room and collectively let out a relieved sigh. Eventually, the others said their goodbyes and headed off towards the dorms. Only six of them: Hajime, Chiaki herself, Nekomaru, Ibuki, Mikan and Nagito, remained - three of them observing the worried-looking gamer who stared at the door to the Exhibit with a hand on her chest.

"Is…he gonna be alright?" she asked to the door right in front of her as if it was a better conversation partner than the other three.

"You mean Komaeda?" Hajime asked as a reply. "He's fine. Tsumiki's taking care of-"

"I'm not talking about Komaeda-kun…" she interrupted the boy's attempt at assuaging her worries. "…I'm talking about Oma-kun. Didn't Kuzuryu-kun cut his back with a knife? He seemed pretty hurt about it…"

"Kuzuryu made sure NOT to actually cut him!" he hastily answered, once more trying to steer her mind off of the topic of Kokichi. "It was more like a whip on his back than a laceration, honestly…"

Chiaki slowly turned away from the door. Well, if Hajime said that Kokichi is fine then he's fine, right? She was too tired to argue with her friend about the supreme leader's safety. She simply shrugged her shoulders and followed Hajime towards the group of people who were waiting for her with smiles on their faces.

Nekomaru approached her and gave her a *light* slap on the shoulder. "The party may have been a failure, but we still had fun together as a team!"

"Ibuki agrees with Neko-chan!" Ibuki jumped in, challenging the loud Ultimate to a screamer contest, or so Chiaki thinks. "This party was super-duper fun! 10/10 would party again!" she finished in a rhythmic sing-song voice while clapping to the beat.

"I'll have to disagree with you on that…" Hajime remarked, unenthusiastic about what happened to them. "…I'd rather not go through that again."

"Don't be such a stick-in-the-mud, Hajime-chan! You got to be tied up with Chiaki-chan and lick Chiaki-chan's cheek! Even Chiaki-chan was enjoying herself!"

Both of their faces sported an identical shade of red at the same time and looked away from each other. Ibuki always knows how to fluster them both, doesn't she?

"A-Anyways!" Hajime shouted to veer the conversation elsewhere. "Aren't you forgetting that it was Oma who put us up to this in the first place?!"

"Oh yeaaaaah…" Ibuki rubbed the back of her head after realizing that. "…Ibuki kinda forgot about that…"

"But you do have to admit," Nekomaru added in a thoughtful tone. "He made the party even wilder in a sense."

"At the very least, I can agree with that."

The group started to walk towards Mikan and Nagito, offering to switch places with Mikan in taking care of Nagito's injuries from the party. After some convincing, they negotiated a deal that they would all stay to take care of him at the nurse's office. Apparently, the nurse was very insistent that she would take care of the frail boy since his life was very delicate. He would need to be monitored constantly because of his unpredictable immune system.

She said that it was a miracle that he's even survived this long with an incredibly weak immune system. Chiaki, on the other hand, was scared of the thought of losing one of her friends to such cruelty. If they wanted Nagito to recover back to his old self, then they needed to consider Mikan's negotiation.

But just as the night couldn't even get crazier, the chaos wasn't done with them yet…

" **SOMEBODY HELP ME!** "

Everyone stopped in their tracks as they were heading towards the school clinic. That loud voice sounded so desperate as if it was a genuine cry for help.

"...Did you guys hear that?"

"I-I did… B-B-But I don't know where it-"

" **AHHHHHH! SOMEBODY! ANYBODY! PLEASE HELP MEEEEEE!** "

"It's Kokichi-chan! At the Exhibit!"

Leaving Nagito in a safe spot, the group rushed over towards the entrance of the Exhibit. Nekomaru pounded on the door in a state of panic. "Oi! What's going on there?!"

" **THEY'RE ALL OVER MEEEEE! AHHHHHH! GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OOOOOOOOFFFFFFF!** "

Along with Kokichi's shouting, they heard even more bugs and insects buzz from beyond the door. Hajime joined Nekomaru at assaulting the door with their concerned shouts and frantic knocking.

"Gonta! What are you doing over there?! We told you not to go overboard!"

"Open up, Gonta! Or we'll have to use EXTREME FORCEEEEEEEE!"

" **I'M SORRY, GONTAAAAAA! I LIKE INSECTS NOW! I LIKE INSECTS, OK?! JUST PLEASE, GET THEM OFF ME!** Huh? What's th- **NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO! NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEEEEEEEEESSSS! GAAAAAAA-** "

 **CRASH** *

 _thud_ *

The screams and buzzing noises inside the room died down after the sounds of loud crashing and a body hitting solid ground. It was deadly silent inside the Exhibit. The silence from within spread outside like an outbreak from a doomsday laboratory. Chiaki could feel her blood run cold from the eerie atmosphere around her, despite the hot weather right now that has not changed ever since she went out of the dorms. Even Ibuki chose not to make a peep about it.

The group jumped back from the startling heavy click of the door opening. That was the first thing they heard a minute after the cries of Insect Utopia were quelled. From beyond the metallic gate that separated them from the Insect Exhibit, a panicked Gonta came out with a...

"KYAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"WHAT THE HEEEELLLLLLLLLL?!"

"BLOOOOOODDD! THERE'S SO MUCH BLOOD!"

Chiaki looked away from the nauseating sight and covered her mouth. She could feel her dinner traveling up from her stomach and towards her throat.

Of all the times to vomit, why now and not when she was dizzy?!

And of course, the moment she turned away, she saw Hajime puke out a mixture of orange and green. The projectile flowed copiously from his mouth as he made the longest retching sound that Chiaki ever heard.

The fight to hold back her own vomit was akin to completing a deathless run of the Ninja Gaiden trilogy in one go - once you mess up, it'll all come out and there's no going back from it…

After an insane amount of fortitude and endurance, Chiaki was able to control her insides…for now. She then took a deep breath and turned her eyes towards that nauseating sight once more. Kokichi, who was bleeding profusely from his forehead, was sleeping on the ground while Mikan focused on taking care of him.

Meanwhile, Gonta was busy apologizing to the others who were present by saying that he didn't mean to hurt his visitor. Based on what he told them, Kokichi was trying to get away from the insects that only wanted to be his friend and badly injured himself in doing so. Chiaki was thankful that the entomologist spared them from the exact details of how the supreme leader managed to sustain a wound like that.

She could imagine a few ways on how it could happen... but because it's just an imagination, it didn't make her throw up.

…Strangely enough, she would find it slightly comical.

The whole group swarmed Kokichi's sleeping form. However, Mikan reprimanded them and told them to keep their distance from her patient, and so they backed off, but only a bit.

...It seemed as if they didn't believe the sight that was right in front of them.

Chiaki couldn't fathom a reason as to why they thought that way. The liquid on his head certainly looked like blood to her… probably.

"…sa…l…"

Kokichi was mumbling something in his sleep and the others were interested as to what he was saying.

"Do you know what he's saying, Mioda?" inquired Hajime.

"Well, Kokichi-chan sounds like he's saying "mmmmmrshmrsh sal mershmersh"." replied the musician who was sporting an unusually serious face as she stuck her head out jauntily and held a hand close to her ear.

"…I…t…sa…l…"

From Chiaki's perspective, she could see Kokichi's mouth move as well as his chest and hands twitch every time it did. Mikan, not understanding what her patient was mumbling, moved her head closer towards his mouth.

"H-Huh? Wh-What i-is It, Oma-san?"

"…It…sal…"

"I-I'm s-sorry but I don't u-understand… Pl-Please tr-try your best to s-speak louder."

Chiaki swore she heard Kokichi giggle for a moment.

"I…said…"

As if lightning struck Kokichi's body, he instantly woke up from his slumber, sat up from his position, grabbed Mikan's head with both his hands, pulled it closer to his face until she could take a good look at his, and shouted with his eyes dilating like the eyes of a reptile even with the blood continuing to flow from his forehead. He did all that in one deft motion.

"Eek…!"

His nurse's concerned expression transformed into one of absolute fear as she was forced to see that bloody and demonic crescent-shaped smile from the supreme leader's face. Had she reacted a little sooner, she would've been spared from such a horrific sight.

" _ **IT'S A LIE!**_ "

The now revived supreme leader dropped his hands to his sides to which Mikan used this opportunity of freedom from his clutches to jump back and sob in terror. Shaking off the shock of Kokichi's sudden vigor, Chiaki knelt down beside the wailing nurse to comfort her. She wrapped her arms around her friend then drew circles on her back like how Hajime did to her not so long ago.

"I-I'm sorry! Pl-Please f-forgive me! Please forgive me!"

"It's okay, Tsumiki-san. It's okay. We forgive you."

Each time Mikan cried out those words to the bloodied supreme leader, Chiaki repeated her words of comfort to her. It was as if she was using her unknown powers to cure Mikan from her status effects.

Surely after a repetitive cycle of crying and comforting, the wailing nurse managed to calm down. The gamer, however, remained by her side. She turned her head to glare at the giggling Kokichi who was somehow paler than his natural skin color. She could tell that the smile on his face was extremely forced, seeing as the area on his forehead was turning bluish-violet and his pupils were now larger than his irises.

"Nishishi… How…cute…" he remarked the scene before him in a deeper and more tired voice.

"Y-You're insane!" shouted Hajime towards Kokichi.

"Oh...? Insane...? Me...? Haha… you wound me… Hinata-chan!"

"K-K-Kokichi-chan is now a z-z-z-zombie..." Ibuki managed to add in despite her teeth chattering in abject fear overriding on her colorful expressions. "P-P-P-P-Please don't eat I-I-I-I-I-Ibuki…"

"He…hehe…hehehe… I gave you guys a pretty good scare… didn't I? Too bad… everyone wasn't here…to see it…" Kokichi started to wobble in place. "…Wheeee… One…little…two…little…three…li…ttle…Gon…tas…"

And then he collapsed to the ground - this time, for good. Although, no one took the initiative to check if Kokichi was really unconscious or not. Eventually, Gonta reluctantly offered to check but Nekomaru declined said offer and volunteered for his job instead. The gentleman looked down in shame and left the area, informing the group that he was going to pack his stuff up back at the Insect Exhibit. Hajime told him that he shouldn't feel too bad about it and that they'll come and help him.

"Hm." Nekomaru nodded thoughtfully and scooped Kokichi up from the ground with his muscular arms. "I've checked him out already I can safely say that HE WON'T BE WAKING UP ANYTIME SOOOOOON!"

"Quiet or you'll actually wake him up…!"

"Gahahaha! Not to worry, Hinata! That was a test to see if he would react to my loud voice! See? He's not waking up!"

Chiaki stood up and helped Mikan back to her feet. There were two people who came out injured tonight and they needed a nurse to take care of them. "Tsumiki-san, are you okay now?"

"…I-I'm fine n-now, Nanami-san…" the nurse replied in her usual stuttering voice. "…Th-Thank you…"

Before Chiaki could return the gesture, Mikan asked if Nekomaru could bring both Nagito and Kokichi to the school clinic. He said that he will but he also told her that he would need to "take a long SHIIIIIIT" once he brought them in. That meant that their strongest unit would retire for the night and they couldn't exactly ask Gonta to help out since he's busy as well.

With a sleeping Kokichi and Nagito now with them, they ventured off towards the school clinic, hoping that they could get inside the massive building and sneak past the guards who were enforcing the curfew.

* * *

Their infiltration on Hope's Peak was successful and they were able to make it towards the clinic. The guards were less vigilant than they had thought. Even with their lack of experience in stealth missions, it was surprisingly a low difficulty level to accomplish.

Entering the clinic, Nekomaru placed the two bodies on their respective beds and hastily took his leave. Ibuki and Hajime soon followed after him, telling the group that they were going to the Insect Exhibit to help Gonta out- well, mostly it was Hajime who was going to help since Ibuki only wanted to join just because she thinks that the clinic is too boring and quiet for her liking.

Much to Chiaki's dismay, the both of them weren't planning on returning here once they were done and that they were going straight to bed afterwards. She was actually planning to at least play some video games with her friends once this was all over. It disappointed her to see that the majority of her plans for tonight were postponed because of Kokichi.

She stood by the door with a sad look on her face as she watched the three fade further into the moonlit halls of the academy. She took this moment of silence to sigh and return to Mikan's side.

At least she wasn't going to be lonely in this clinic with two sleeping people…

"N-Nanami-san? You can just go back to the d-dorms and go to sleep for today…"

Chiaki considered the nurse's offer for a bit before shaking her head to decline. "…I don't feel like sleeping yet. Is it ok if I stay here and help you, Tsumiki-san? I'll take care of Oma-kun while you tend to Komaeda-kun's needs."

Mikan gave a satisfied smile of approval. "Ok then. B-But I have to bandage Oma-san first before you can visit him!"

The gamer nodded at that and decided to sit down and play some video games at the clinic's lobby to pass up the time.

* * *

Ugh…

…Why did today have to be the day where he finally woke up on the wrong side of the bed?

Or in this case, the wrong bed?

Kokichi woke up from the hot light of the sun slapping his face to wake him up. He definitely was in a bad mood today. He begrudgingly opened his eyes and felt his head squeeze itself in, compressing every imaginable sensation of pain into one jackhammer that pounded on all sides of his cranium.

That freaking hurts, damn it!

Come on, brain! Don't fuck up my day any worse than it already is!

The pain eventually subsided after he massaged the temples of his head with his hands. One detail he took notice of was the fact that he had a bandage wrapped around his head.

How did he happen to end up at the clinic again?

…The events that took place at the party soon came crashing in his memories like a freight train coming in hot. He recovered from his temporary memory loss and began to laugh. The looks on their faces as they realized that they were all tied up in a very awkward position was just too hilarious!

Oh, and how could he forget how the others reacted when he scared them with his injury?!

That was the best part of the plan so far and he didn't even prepare for it!

This was just too funny!

Kokichi was able to contain his laughter as his insides were starting to hurt. Wiping the tears that blurred his vision, he saw a girl mimicking what he just did with his eyes seating beside him. That was strange. When did _she_ get here?

More importantly, shouldn't she be cleaning the mess he made last night?

"…Good morning, Oma-kun…" she greeted the supreme leader with a yawn. "…Are you feeling better now?"

"Nishishi… Of course, I am, Nanami-chan…"

That wasn't a lie by the way.

He couldn't feel any gladder than waking up to see Chiaki instead of their class rep. If the latter was here instead of her, she'd be scolding him about what he just did to the others during their party.

"Tojo-san will be coming here later for your breakfast…" she informed him. His day was just getting better and better by the second! "…Do you want to play some video games while we wait?"

"Hmmm… while I'd love to play some video games with you, I think you're here for a different reason other than trying to become my friend…"

"What if that was all I wanted to do, Oma-kun?"

"Reeeeaaaally, Nanami-chan~? Even after what I just did to you and your friends, especially Hinata-chan, Komaeda-chan and you?"

"…Have you ever had a Gengar and Clefable before?"

 _Way to dodge the question, Nanami-chan…_ "Hmm… Never heard of 'em…"

Chiaki pulled out one of her video game consoles and booted up a game called "Pokémon FireRed". Judging by the name of the game, Kokichi assumed that the gamer was talking about these Pokémon. Regardless, he's still never caught any of them in his life. She then showed the screen towards Kokichi. The dark purple one was apparently named "Gengar" while the palish-pink one was named "Clefable".

The two looked vaguely familiar to him…

"Ehh, I like the Gengar one better. He looks more interesting…"

"You remind me of a Gengar, you know…" she commented as she switched the console off and returned it inside her bag.

"How so?"

"Well, for starters, your hair shares the same purple he has and you smile like he does…"

"Awwww. Thanks for the compliment, Nanami-chan!"

"…And you like to trick people. That's what a Gengar does to people. They trick and prank people as a way to have fun but because of this, they despise and avoid Gengars as much as possible."

"S-So…*sniff* *sniff*… do you despise me too?"

 _Please say yes please say yes please say ye-_

"I don't, Oma-kun. That's why I want to be your friend. I see a lot of myself in you - someone who is generally not liked by the public because of their…weird quirks. This is the reason I brought up Gengar and Clefable in the first place. In some online gaming threads that I visit, people theorized about how these two were alter egos of each other. Sure, they were clearly different, but the more you look into it, you start to realize how similar they are."

 _GODDAMN IT!_ "Nishishi… Well, that's one thing we can agree on. All the more reason why you should join my organization, Nanami-chan! You can be the vice supreme leader of my group! Think of all the fun and crazy times we can enjoy in that wild wild world out there!"

"Hmmm… sounds tiring…I think. I'd rather play video games with my friends."

Kokichi held back a comment about how boring that answer was and simply shrugged his shoulders in response. "…Fine fine. Let's just play those stupid games, ok?!"

"They're not stupid, Oma-kun. They're-"

"Yada yada yada… I get it! Let's just play already!"

At the end of it all, it turned out that Kokichi lost in this game he played with Chiaki…followed by 20 other losses in Gala Omega. You win some, you lose some. This loss pissed him off for sure. He couldn't get the other to hate him and think of him as nothing but an evil person who enjoys seeing others suffer.

sigh* Well, at least there was the off-chance that he would replace Hajime as Chiaki's number one gaming buddy…

This wasn't the ending he expected nor wanted, but there was always next time…

…And next time, _**he'll definitely win this game**_.

* * *

A/N: Finally…done…with…this…

Whew.

The last scene with Kokichi and Chiaki was actually going to be longer. I was planning to put some extra stuff in there but this fic was already approaching 50k words (novel status). This was originally going to have just 3 chapters with at least 10k words in it. Looks like I underestimated myself. Trust me, I've cut down a lot of stuff to decrease my word count but the fact that this was a LONG fic still remained.

I just want to say something here before I leave.

This is the most effort I've put into a fic even though the plot was ridiculous. I've made sure that the characters I featured in the tags get an appropriate amount of presence (I know Peko said about two or three lines of dialogue throughout this entire fic shush), and I've tried to make them as in-character as I can. I think I've done a pretty good job here.

But that's what I think about this fic. What matters is what you guys think about it.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this! I hope that this fic was worth your time! Have a nice day and remember, School is Cool! :D


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